A Woman's Resolve
by Innocent Criminal
Summary: Wanting to protect her father and show that a woman can be strong and make her own decisions, Hinata decides to go undercover as a male soldier in order to take her father's place in the army of The Land of Fire. She never expected to find love in such a setting, especially in her blond-haired commander. Loosely based off of Disney's Mulan!
1. Getting Ready

**Hello Everyone!**

**This is my first fanfic, so please be good to me :)**

**And as I stated in the summary, this story is loosely being based off of Disney's "Mulan".**

**Enjoy!**

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**#1 Getting Ready**

As the sun started rising on a beautiful Saturday morning, people were going around Konoha village getting ready for the day, just like any other day.

The men were hanging out with their own group of friends and, as always, every girl in the village was either talking about their boyfriends, or their fiances that their very own matchmaker of the village 'Madam Tussa', had matched them with - their "soul mate". All girls that were twenty-one were supposed to have a match by that certain age, if you were twenty and below, you were still free.

All girls twenty-one and over had their man, all but one certain lavender-eyed girl still had no match in the village. The heiress of the Hyuuga Family. The Hyuuga Family was made up of many families, all who were very wealthy, but there was one family that was above them all, the main family. The main Hyuuga Family was the wealthiest of all the Hyuuga. The heiress was said to be a very beautiful and shy girl. Her eyes were clear as pearls, but the color of lavender. Every single bachelor in the village wanted her, not just because of her beauty, but also because of her riches; her family being one of the richest families in The Land of Fire. Because she was very popular among the men, and envied by all women, her father decided to finally settle her down, and going to the most famous matchmaker in Konoha was his answer. She should be able to know who's the most eligible bachelor (soon to be husband) for his daughter.

* * *

An hour before the matchmaking session, there was a certain lavender-eyed girl talking to herself in a room deep inside the Hyuuga household.

Hinata was going over her words and sentences for when she met the matchmaker this evening while she was eating a small bowl of rice.

"I won't be able to remember any of this stuff!" She let out a frustrated sigh.

She slumped down on her bed and buried her face in the pillows. She was practically the only woman in the whole village that was twenty-one and still didn't have a man at her side. Maybe because she was very shy out of her home. She was more of a free spirit here, inside her house, where no one could see her. Hinata slowly lifted her face a bit and looked around her room until something got her attention. She spotted some black ink and a brush on top of her desk. A light bulb flashed on top of her head.

"Maybe I can write all the stuff down instead, I'll just cover it up once I put on my kimono." Hinata, happy with her decision, excitedly got out of her bed and got to work. She wrote down everything she needed for the interview. She needed to sound professional, or else she might not get a match, since the matchmaker was very strict in her interviews.

Once Hinata finished and looked at her masterpiece of work, she turned to look at the clock.

Thirty minutes.

She had 30 minutes before her interview with the matchmaker began.

"Oh NO! I can't believe it! Why didn't look at the clock sooner! I'm so late!" Hinata pulled on a casual kimono as she ran to the stables to get her horse.

She mounted on her horse 'Akamaru', and sped all the way to the beauty salon in the village.

* * *

"Hinata! You're late for your beauty session!" cried out her mother.

"I-I'm so sorry mother, it will never happen again." Hinata jumped out of her horse and lowered her head down as she apologized.

"Never mind the apologies, just hurry up and get inside now, today is the day your fate will take its course. Your destiny! We'll finally be able to know who will be the man that you'll spend the rest of your life with! Now go and let the ladies get you set and ready. I just can't wait! You're going to look so gorgeous when they are done with you, no way you'll never get a match." Excitedly, Hinata's mom led her past a few curtains until they stopped in front of some middle-aged women whom seemed to be a bit annoyed at her tardiness. Hinata took a chance and looked around the room. She saw that there was a huge bathtub, some lotions and creams, makeup, beautifully crafted kimonos, and a whole lot of other things that she knew were worth a whole lot of money.

One of the lady's stood up and made her way to the huge tub.

"Let's get started now, shall we?"

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**Thank you for reading this fic, and I will make the next chapters longer than this, because, I prefer to read fics where the chapters are longer. :D**

**So anyways Thank You!**


	2. The Matchmaking Session

**I'm back!**

**Also, the beginning of this story is gonna be similar to the movie, but not exactly. Everything is gonna be different after that, so just wait for it ;)**

**Let's begin!**

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**#2. The Matchmaking Session**

"Oh, honey, you look beautiful!" Hinata's mother complimented.

Hinata made her way to the nearest long mirror to check herself, while her mother kept on complimenting her on how beautiful and gorgeous she was.

She stood there as she stared at her reflection in the mirror. And she had to say, the ladies did an amazing job at everything! Her kimono was a beautiful crimson red color with flowers decorating all around it. A gold sash was tightened around her waist, making her chest pop out a bit more than usual. That certain detail was a bit embarrassing for her. Almost every girl in the village had a nice petite chest. But no, not her. She just had to stand out. At first she had felt really self-conscious, but she later learned to love herself more and be less insecure. Turned out there were a lot of girls who told her they wished they had her chest, which Hinata felt embarrassed and secretly happy about.

Overall, she looked stunning. Her hair was tied up into a nice, sort-of-messy bun with two chopsticks sticking out of it. The make-up was OK, she felt like she had a bit too much, like if she had tripped and fallen face-first into a cake or something. But she didn't mind it though - she could hardly believe this was her!

Hinata smiled at her reflection in the mirror and turned towards her mother. "I-I guess I do look lovely, Mother."

"Honey, you look amazing! All the men in Konoha will be after you like lovesick puppies!" Her mother turned towards the stylists. "It's all thanks to you, good ladies! Thank you very much for making my daughter the most beautiful woman in Konoha!" she cried delightedly.

Hinata grimaced a little. She loved her mother to pieces, but she didn't like the fact that her mother believed her to be above any other girl in the village. Her mother expected her to be perfect in everything she did. She hated to see Hinata doing something non-girly, telling her she would never get a good husband if she kept at it. She remembered that long ago when she was little, she was caught playing in a puddle of mud, making mud cakes. She had gotten the scolding of a lifetime that day. Her mother had ranted on and on about how it was so un-lady like of her; and if she kept being like that, she would never get a man to look at her as a woman, even less as a wife. Having a husband is such a big deal here in the village, as you can already see.

"Oh, my goodness gracious, Hinata! You have a little over five minutes before your matchmaking session begins! Go! Go! Get out and climb into the carriage quickly, the coach will know where to take you. Now hurry!" Hinata's mother lead her quickly outside and helped her climb aboard a carriage that was already there.

Once Hinata was secured inside, her mother smiled at her. "I'm so proud of you, honey. You are about a step away from adulthood. Your father, your sister and I will be waiting for you at home when your session is over. I can't wait until you return and tell us how it went. I love you!" She waved goodbye to Hinata as the carriage started moving away.

Hinata smiled and nodded at her mother before she turned to look at the front. If she said that she wasn't nervous, she would be lying. Her hands were starting to get sweaty and she was shaking a little. She hoped that the notes she had taken this morning would help her survive through the session...

Suddenly, it hit her.

Did she still have her notes from this morning? The ladies had bathed her, so the writing might be gone by now! Hinata quickly pulled up her sleeve to check her arm where she had written her notes on. She almost fainted when she saw that all the hard work from this morning had been washed off! Now Hinata had a reason to die. She suddenly felt like having a heart attack. How could she let this happen!? Now she was doomed for sure!

And as if things couldn't get any worse, she had just arrived in front of the matchmaking house.

"Alright, Miss, we have arrived. Yer mother ordered me to wait out here 'til you're done to take ya back home." The coach jumped out of his seat and opened the carriage door for Hinata.

Hinata couldn't breathe. She couldn't move. She felt stuck.

"Miss...?" The coach looked inside the carriage. "Do ya need help getting off, my lady?" he asked as he extended his hand towards her.

Hinata finally got out of her trance. "H-Huh? O-oh, uh, yea, th-thank you, sir." She flushed in embarrassment and took the coach's hand as he helped her off the carriage.

"Now, I hope i-it isn't a bother if you wait f-for me, i-is it?" she asked, feeling more embarrassed of her usual stutter.

"Nothing is ever a bother for me, my lady. I'll just feed my horses some carrots while I wait." The coach smiled at her as he turned around and walked towards his horses.

_This is it_, she thought. Hinata started climbing the small set of stairs in front of the mansion, until she came to stand before the big double doors. She was practically sweating bullets at this moment; it was a miracle she hadn't fainted yet, like she often did when she was in unbearable situations. She was about to knock on the doors when both of them abruptly flew open.

"Hyuuga, Hinata?" asked an old fat lady.

"Y-yes?" she answered.

"You're one minute late. I hate tardiness," said the older lady, "But I will give you just one more chance. Be grateful I give second chances, or else I would be kicking you out right now. Come in." The woman stepped aside and motioned for her to go inside.

Hinata made her way in until she heard the doors close shut behind her.

"Hello, I am Madam Tussa, your matchmaker." Madam Tussa walked towards Hinata and started circling around her, looking her up and down. Hinata felt really nervous and awkward, but decided to take this moment to look around the room. The walls were a dark lavender color. There were some flowery scented candles here and there, some urns, plants, and a few lanterns hanging from the walls. It was a very nice and neat room.

"Hmm..." Hinata snapped her attention back to the matchmaker.

"Your hips are good enough to bear a son, but you're too busty; it would have been better if you had a small chest..." Hinata felt a little offended at her comments, but she just listened to every word the old lady was saying. "My chest wouldn't be this big if I were your size..."

After a few more comments like those, Hinata drowned out her voice as she started noticing how funny Madam Tussa looked. She had on some weird make-up, blue and black on the eyes, red on the lips, and a fake painted birthmark on her cheek. It certainly did not fit her image at all. No wonder the older woman sounded, well, dare she say it, _jealous_ of her. Hinata tried to hold back the amused grin that was slowly starting to spread on her face. She felt guilty for having such thoughts, but she couldn't help it. A small chuckle managed to escape her lips.

"What's so funny?" Madam Tussa remarked, giving her a small glare.

Hinata immediately stopped her incoming giggles, a deep red color starting to spread on her cheeks as Madam Tussa arched an eyebrow at her. "N-Nothing, ma'am, I-I-"

"Don't stutter, it's annoying! No man likes a woman who trips on her words!" Madam Tussa turned around and made her way to a small table, which had a small teapot and two china cups placed on it.

"Take a seat." She pointed towards the cushion that was on the other side of the table while she sat on the opposite direction. Hinata obeyed and made her way to the table too.

"Now, I want you to pour the tea while I ask you some questions." The woman gave a nod and motioned towards the teapot.

_Oh no, I'm not ready for questions! How will I get out of this one? _Hinata nervously grabbed the teapot with both hands. She was so nervous that her hands started sweating again, making the teapot a bit too slippery to hold on to. As she was about to pour some tea into the two china cups, she suddenly got a goose-bump, making her shake a little. Big mistake. The moment she trembled, the teapot slipped out of her slim fingers and crashed onto the shiny floor. The spilled tea started making a long trail.

"Why you clumsy-" Madam Tussa had stood up and made her way around the table when she stepped on the tea, slipped, and fell butt-first onto the floor.

Hinata gaped at the whole scene, horror evident on her face. She wanted to help her up, but she couldn't move a muscle. She felt stuck, again.

Madam Tussa, seeing that Hinata wasn't helping her up, got angry, and attempted to stand up by herself. "You little-" she was cut off as she slipped once again, slipping on the tea trail all the way towards a wall and slamming right into it. She fell down on some scented lighted candles that were placed on another small table.

"AHHHHHH!" she screamed. Realizing she was now on fire, she started jumping up and down. "PUT IT OUT! PUT IT OUT! _PUT IT OOOUUUTTT!_"

Hinata immediately snapped back to reality. She acted quickly as she grabbed the fan hidden inside her kimono and ran towards the old lady.

"Don't worry! I'll put out the fire!" Hinata, wildly, started fanning the matchmaker's bottom until the fire would disappear. But instead of putting out the fire, the fan had just increased it, making it worse!

"OOUUAAAAHHHH!" screamed the matchmaker in agony.

Hinata stood back in shock, but then started looking frantically around the room for something that could help her put out the fire. She caught sight of a small water tank and ran straight towards it. Not noticing the two small fish inside, she grabbed it and ran back to the old lady.

"Here I go!" shouted Hinata as she swung the tank backwards before throwing out the water in it at full force.

"WAIT! NNNOOOOOOO!" the matchmaker screamed in horror.

Too late. Hinata threw forth the water while still holding the tank in her hands. There was a huge splash and smoke rapidly filled the room. The fire was out.

Once the smoke had cleared out, Hinata made her way towards the old lady. She stood right beside her, and then noticed that the matchmaker was on her knees, gaping at the floor. Hinata followed her gaze. She gasped.

Right there on the floor, there were two small fish - one black and the other white. These fish were inside the tank of water that she had thrown to the matchmaker! She had killed both the fish! The thing is, the fish weren't just any fish. These fish were the most expensive and rare on the market, said to be good luck, the yin and yang. They were worth a fortune!

"My babies..." whispered the matchmaker as she visibly started to tremble.

Hinata put the palm of her hand against her lips. "I-I'm so s-sorry..." She now felt like crying. She needed to get out of here. Hinata slowly backed away from the scene and made her way towards the doors before opening one and walking outside. Needing to leave as fast as possible, she started going down the stairs, when suddenly-

"YOU!" screamed the matchmaker as she burst through the doors. Her face was all wet and dirtied from the dripping make-up. Hinata froze in place when she turned around and stared at Madam Tussa.

"YOU ARE A _DISGRACE_! YOU MAY LOOK LIKE A BRIDE, BUT YOU WILL _NEVER_ BRING YOUR FAMILY _HONOR_!" The matchmaker practically spit on her face. She turned around and stomped back into the house, slamming the double doors hard.

Hinata stayed still for a moment, then noticed there was a rather large crowd gathering around the matchmaker's home. She clearly heard them whispering and murmuring to each other-

"Poor girl."

"She didn't get a match.."

"That's what she gets."

"What did she do?"

All Hinata could hear were the whispers of the people. They were all looking at her, making faces and pointing at her.

_I need to get out of here NOW!_

Hinata's tears started cascading down her cheeks like a waterfall. She pushed through the crowd, sprinting back home as she cried, never stopping to take a breath until she would reach her house.

* * *

Hinata opened the gates leading into her home. She stepped in and closed them back up before she paused.

_What am I going to tell mother and father?, _she thought, _They'll be so disappointed in me._

Hinata was dreading to look at her parents right now, not wanting them to see what a failure of a daughter she was. She had failed them both big time, even after all they had done for her. This was how she had repaid them.

Not wanting to face her parents yet, Hinata made her way towards the small pond in their large garden. She walked around the edges of it, looking at her reflection until she finally decided to sit down by the pond.

She stared at herself for what seemed like an eternity. She looked at her clothes. The rich red of her kimono was stained with a few splashes of tea; there were even a few black parts and ashes clinging to her due to the fire. She then lifted her eyes towards her face. All the make-up that was once beautiful, was now completely ruined. The black around her eyes was dripped all the way down to her chin, already dried due to the wind, making her look like some type of ghost. She hated it.

Not being able to stand looking at herself anymore, she harshly brought down a hand on the water, making a wild splash that blurred her reflection. She then cupped her hands together and scooped up some water before splashing it on her face. She kept repeating the process until she was sure all the makeup was gone, and decided to look at herself in the water once more to make sure.

Her face was now clear, with no makeup left. Her skin shone like porcelain, her soft, beautiful light skin was now fully visible after having splashed her face with the water. Though her eyes were still red and puffy from crying.

Unable to help it, Hinata broke down and started to sob. Everything just came crashing down on her. The humiliation was too much for her to bear, especially since like half the village had witnessed the whole scene. It would only be a matter of hours before the entire village knew about it. Hinata wouldn't be able to take it. She sobbed even harder.

"Hinata?"

Startled, Hinata paused her crying and turned around swiftly, coming face to face with her younger sister, Hanabi.

"Big Sister Hinata! Why are you crying?" exclaimed her younger sister with a worried look on her face.

"Oh, Hanabi! I'm not crying, silly! I was just washing off my makeup here in the pond, haha..." replied Hinata in a really light tone, trying not to sound sad, but her voice just trailed off.

Hanabi stared at her elder sister with a concerned look on her face. "Do not lie to me, Big Sister Hinata. I know you weren't just washing off your face. I clearly heard you crying," Hanabi said firmly, a frown forming on her cute features.

Hinata knew that she wouldn't be able to fool her sister. She knew Hanabi was a very smart girl; she could detect a lie as quickly as it came. There was just no way she could hide it, so she had to tell her the truth...but now wasn't the right time.

"Oh, Hanabi... I know it would be stupid of me to try to fool you since I know you can't be easily fooled...but I want to be alone, please dear sister...I need to be alone right now," Hinata told her softly.

Hanabi was about to protest when she suddenly saw the look on Hinata's face. Her face seemed, so sad. It didn't have that glow that she usually carried around everywhere. It seemed faded, opaque. Even if she hadn't heard her sister crying, it would've been obvious she had done so, due to how puffy red her eyes looked. Hanabi nodded towards Hinata, letting her know she would leave her alone for now.

The Hyuuga heiress nodded back at her younger sister with a smile, then turned to the opposite direction and walked away. Hinata hadn't meant to be so dismissive towards Hanabi, but she really needed some alone time right now, needed to figure out what she was going to do. How was she going to break the news to her parents? How were they going to react? Will they dishonor her? How was she going to deal with them? All these questions kept swarming in her mind.

After a little while, Hinata arrived to her favorite place of the Hyuuga household - where the cherry blossom trees were located.

These trees were really beautiful today, the petals falling down like droplets of water after a rainy day. The sun shone brightly and illuminated the trees, making a nice, sweet, warm glow. She had only seen this type of scenery once, and now this was the second time. _What a beautiful scenery for such a horrible day. _Why couldn't this happen on a happy day? Why couldn't it have happened on the day she'd turned fifteen and her parents had thrown a huge celebration, inviting everyone in the village? That had been Hinata's best birthday ever. Or why couldn't it have been when she finally graduated from her school in the village?

But of course, mother nature was cruel, only showing the best things it had to offer on the worst of times. Hinata then remembered that the first time she had ever seen this scenery, was the day the news of her cousin Neji's death had reached her and her family.

Neji was Hinata's favorite cousin. He had cared for her, protected her, had done everything for her. Hinata loved him so much. She had been sixteen when her cousin Neji had to serve in the Land of Fire's Third War due to selective service; he'd been barely eighteen at the time. Hinata had been so devastated, hadn't wanted him to leave her. But of course, it was his duty, so Hinata had to let him go. But before he left, he had gifted her his favorite necklace, a yin and yang, the one he always wore everywhere. He had told her it was his lucky charm but that she could have it, so that way, he could protect her even from afar. Hinata, with tears of joy, had accepted the gift and never failed to wear it everyday.

Soon, the weeks had passed, turning into months and so on. One day, Hinata had decided to take a walk out in her grand backyard, looking around at the beautiful day. She had kept walking ahead until she reached the cherry blossom trees. They looked so beautiful that day, just how they looked now. _So beautiful._ Hinata had never felt so calm in her life, the scenery made her feel warm and relaxed. She thought nothing could destroy the peace she was feeling inside at that moment. That was, until Hanabi had come running towards her, shouting her name.

"Hinata, Hinata!" Hanabi had made her way towards her elder sister, stopping to take in a few breaths once she had reached her.

"What is it, Hanabi? What's wrong? You look so pale," Hinata questioned once Hanabi stood in front of her. Hanabi glanced at her older sister before lowering her head to look at the ground as she pulled out a scroll. Because of the insignia on it, Hinata knew who the scroll belonged to: The Land of Fire's Army. She immediately took the scroll and unrolled it.

Her eyes could not believe what she was reading. It was about her dear cousin, Neji. He had died bravely on the battlefield.

It couldn't be true, it just couldn't! _Cousin Neji couldn't...!_ She kept reading and reading it over for confirmation, every time her heart becoming heavier and heavier. Without even noticing, thick tears had started streaming down her face, not stopping. Hinata immediately glanced at her parents who had just come out of the house, a sad expression evident on their faces. Without a thought, Hinata went running towards them and hugged them, before turning into a crying wreck. "We're sorry," was the only thing they kept murmuring to her that day.

A few days later, Neji's body had been sent back to them. They had held a large funeral for him. Nearly everyone in the village had attended, all knowing who he was, and considering the fact that Neji had been declared a war hero by his generals. He had brought honor to the Hyuuga family.

Hinata shook her head quickly, wanting to clear her mind from such depressing memories of the past. She walked a few more paces when she saw a stone bench and decided to sit down to rest. She needed time to think of what she was going to do, how was she going to break the news about her failure to her parents. In all her years, she had been trying to please her parents as much as she could. She wanted to be a good daughter, to make them happy, to bring honor to her family as her late cousin had. She didn't want to disappoint them, especially her father, who she had developed a close relationship with barely a few years ago.

Right after finding out about Neji's death, she hadn't been able to feel surprised at the fact that her own father had let her hug him, when he was usually so stoic and cold. During the time of mourning, which for Hinata had been longer than anyone, her father had started to become less cold towards her. He had unexpectedly tried to get closer to her during that time. Hinata had slowly begun to stop her depression, appreciating her father's strange but welcome signs of affection. Even though it had been so untimely and she hadn't understood it, she was grateful that her father and her now had what one may call a warm relationship.

She couldn't say the same thing about her mother, though. They used to be kind of close when she was a child, but that mostly changed when Hinata turned eighteen, about a year after Neji's death. That's when her mother really began nagging at her about being the perfect girl, in order to find a great husband. She began fussing over her a lot more than before. Because of this, Hinata just knew her mother wasn't going to let her get out of this one; she wasn't going to make it easy for her.

It seemed that while her father had started closing the distance between them, her mother had started distancing herself from her.

Hinata just didn't know how she was going to face either of them, but she needed to keep it together. Just sitting here thinking about what happened at the matchmaker's house was making her want to cry again. _Why am I so weak?, _she wondered sadly.

Just then, she heard some footsteps and she immediately turned her head to see who it was. Hinata's eyes widened at the sight. It was her parents. She opened her mouth to say something, when her mother quickly brought a hand up to silence her. Hinata closed her mouth slowly and waited for the scolding that was sure to come.

"Hinata, it's okay. We know what happened," her father spoke in a soothing manner, one of the new ways he used to talk to her now. It made Hinata startle slightly, having expected him to go back to his usual cold mannerisms.

"Hanabi told us she saw you crying and being depressed, so don't hide anything from us. From what she told us, we can easily guess that the session didn't go well?" Hinata's mother made her way to the stone bench and sat next to her while her father followed suit.

Hinata didn't understand why her parents were being so kind to her. It made her feel a sliver of warmth inside. She wanted to give them a hug but the only thing she could do right now was look at the ground, too ashamed of herself to look them straight on.

"I-I'm s-sorry mother, father. After all you have done for me, this is how I have repaid you! I'm sorry f-for being such a-a failu-" Hinata's mother silenced her with a finger before she broke down again.

"Shh, Hinata. You're not a failure. We are glad we have you and Hanabi as our daughters; we couldn't ask for anything better. We love you both and nothing will ever change that, honey. So don't cry, cheer up." Her mother started soothing her head to calm her down. It surprised Hinata that her mother was being unusually affectionate like this. When was the last time she had done so? When she was six or seven years old?

"Your mother's right. We love you and nothing can change that. Besides, there are hundreds of other ways for you to get a husband without needing the help of that horrible matchmaker." Her father, Hiashi, closed his eyes and gave a curt nod, as if having given an important statement.

"_Yes_! There are other ways to find a husband, dear. You don't need the help of that filthy matchmaker!" Hinata's mother cupped her face excitedly. "I know! We'll _both_ be your matchmakers! Wouldn't that be fun? Remember a woman needs a husband to protect her, as us women aren't strong enough to protect ourselves. Your father and I will start looking for single wealthy bachelors in other villages too! You need someone with class, not someone who can barely feed a family! _Yes_!" Hinata's mother spouted as she stood up quickly from the bench, motioning her husband to do the same.

"There is no time to waste! Let's look for a husband fast! She can't be left unprotected any longer! Don't worry, honey, leave this to your father and I. We'll take care of everything!" Hinata's mother sped-walked towards the house, her father calmly trailing behind. He looked back at his daughter, looking as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to even begin, so he just faced the front again, seeming unusually awkward.

All Hinata could do was stare in shock at her parents for what seemed like the longest time. All her tears were mostly gone. A part of her felt extreme relief that her parents had forgiven her, had not dishonored her for the matchmaking failure. She was truly happy and thankful about that.

But another part of her was not. Why did she feel a sudden pang in her chest when her mother had prattled about finding her a husband? Was that not what she wanted? Did she not want to get married? _Why am I feeling this?_

All of her incoming thoughts were abruptly interrupted by a sudden thumping noise. Hinata couldn't register what was going on. She turned her head towards the sound as she recognized the beating of the drums somewhere off in the distance.

_What's going on?_

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**Hey, guys! Sorry I took nearly a month to update, but my computer has broken down, so the only way to write this for now are the school computers, waa! D:**

**Anyways, I made this chapter long, woohoo! Well, at least I hope it's long enough for you guys!**

**Next, we'll be seeing what triggered the beginning of the war a few days earlier.**

**Until next time! I'll _try_ to bring you guys the chapters more quickly because I hate hiatus. ;P**


	3. Trigger

**Hey, guys, I'm back!**

**Sorry for taking super long to update. I didn't have anything to write my story in, but I finally got my own laptop! (Graduation present from my dad), so I expect to keep writing more often.**

**Let's get started!**

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_Long ago, there was a huge war against the Huns which involved the Five Great Nations: Fire, Wind, Water, Lightning, and Earth. After many __hardships and tribulations, the five nations allied with each other, and together defeated the enemy. In time, they decided to create peace treaties __by allying their forces when needed, calling themselves: China._

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**3\. Trigger**

**_3 DAYS EARLIER..._**

It was a very quiet night, the moon's light hit down on the Great Wall of Fire and the only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire torches that were placed above. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Soldiers guarded the wall as they paced around, checking if everything was good and in perfect condition. It was so calm and quiet that even while the guards took watch, they still had time to have small talk with one another.

"Just another quiet night again, huh?" asked one of the guards to the other standing beside him.

"Indeed it is, it has even started to become a bit boring for the last couple of years too; nothing has happened," answered the other guard as he glanced around the perimeter.

The other guard nodded in agreement. "You got that right, it has been so quiet that we haven't even had our guard up for some time now, I mean, who would want to start anything when we had a small war just a few years ago?" Both guards agreed with each other as they looked down at the scenery displayed before them, the pearly white moon casting its fluorescent light down towards the earth, creating such a sight.

As one of the guards was looking around, he caught something moving in the darkness by the corner of his eye.

"Hey, look over there," one of the soldiers nudged the other as his head turned the other way, signaling for him to look in that direction.

"I think that's a newbie? He's wearing our uniform and he seems to be lost somehow. Think we should help him?" he asked again.

The other soldier turned to where he had been signaled to look. There, stood a man with a blond-haired ponytail that covered part of his face, who seemed confused somehow. "Hm, that's weird, it is always made sure every soldier knows their place before the night even begins. I wonder where he's supposed to be."

The guard made his way towards the edge of the tower, leaning over before shouting down, "Hey, you there! Where are you supposed to be?!"

The blond shot his head up quickly to where the voice had come from, and a gasp elicited from his lips, seemingly scared.

The two guards in the tower laughed at the action. _So easily scared, ha! I can't believe he works here._

"We're sorry for scaring you, we didn't mean to do it." Both soldiers apologized and laughed a bit more before they fully calmed down.

The newbie seemed to have tensed down and let out a relieved sigh. "Oi, it's alright. I'm sorry for reacting like that, how embarrassing for you to see me like this, me, a soldier, haha. And I'm also apologizing for disturbing your guarding duties, but I need some help. I am not sure where I'm supposed to be at this moment, hm. As you can clearly see, I'm new, hm." The blond guard walked closer towards the tower, looking up right at the two soldiers.

The two soldiers looked at each other before they turned their eyes back down to the blond soldier. "Look kid, why don't you come up here and we'll see what we can do?" offered one of them.

The newbie wasn't a kid, but since he was way younger than both guards, they decided to call him that. The guards signaled for him to come up to the tower.

Immediately, the newcomer took the offer and climbed his way up in swift movements, the two soldiers getting surprised on how he climbed with ease and profession. He landed perfectly, with his back to the soldiers. He totally did not seem like a beginner at all, but with more experience.

"Hey, you got skills, boy, no wonder you got a position here. I thought you were gonna be a wimpy kid when I first saw you." Both guards burst out laughing at their comment.

"Is that so?" questioned the blond male, his back still facing the soldiers. The aura around him had suddenly changed. Immediately both soldiers stopped laughing; something seemed off. The blond man's voice had completely changed, his voice sounded much darker than when he had spoken a few moments ago.

"H-Hey kid, something wrong?" One of the guards started walking slowly towards the blond man, the other following close behind him. He was about to reach to him, when suddenly-

The blond man swung around at full speed, that the soldiers weren't able to see the turn.

"Is this wimpy enough for you?" asked the blond man as he took out two swords that were strapped on his back and swung them forward so fast, stabbing both guards in the heart, blood splattering on the floor and on his clothes. The guards, not having had even a moment to react, slid down on the ground, lifeless. Both their lives had been taken in a matter of seconds.

"What two idiots, hm. They made my job way easier than I expected, such fools, hm." The blond man laughed at how ridiculously easy everything had been! These guards were so stupid. And they called themselves guardians of the Great Wall of Fire! What a joke! He laughed even more.

After he was done laughing, the man took out a few matches and lit them. "Alright, time to light this thing on." He then threw the lit matches to the huge torch plate. He smiled wickedly at the fire.

"Deidara," a calm voice said.

The blond man turned towards the person who had said his name and smiled. "Hey, Sasori, my man! Came to check out my awesome work?" he joked.

"Deidara, don't be so full of yourself. We are only here because of the alliance we made with The Huns, and their leader, Orochimaru, offered us part of that power once we help him take over China. So stop fooling around and burn that flag."

"Geez, alright, old man."

"Don't call me that."

Deidara chuckled. With one hand, he took the flag with the country's symbol embedded on it by breaking the pole it was hoisted on, and slowly placed it over the fire.

"Hurry up, Pain and the others must already be done and are waiting for us. I hate making people wait."

"Alright, alright, burning flags takes time." Deidara looked towards Sasori with a smirk, who gave him a glare before Deidara continued, "We now hereby decree, the start of a new era! An era where we will be rulers, and everyone, especially the emperors, will bow down to our feet, for we will take over China and rule for the years to come!"

Both watched and waited as the flag burned down and turned to ash, before leaving to meet up with the others.

The war had begun.

* * *

"Your Majesty!" The huge double doors to the Emperor's throne flew open to reveal the General of the Land of Fire's Army, Itachi Uchiha.

"General Uchiha, it is certainly a pleasure to see you, especially now that it seems that some of our enemies have declared war on us." The Emperor looked towards where Itachi had bowed down.

"Your Majesty, it seems that The Huns and The Akatsuki have allied together to come against us. They have killed all our soldiers that guarded the Great Wall of Fire, and have burned down our flags." Itachi got up from his bowed position as he spoke.

"Yes, so I have heard. I think it's time that we start recruiting men again, just like we did for the previous war." Emperor Sarutobi started going down the stairs of his throne.

Itachi nodded his head. "I believe we will have to recruit triple the soldiers than what we had in our last war, a few years ago. This oncoming war against the Huns will be much bigger compared to the one two centuries ago, because they are back and stronger than ever. Not only that, but they have allied themselves with the new rogue organization, The Akatsuki."

"I received letters from our sister nations saying they were also threatened by the renewed Huns. Since war has been declared to all of China, the other emperors and I will have to have a meeting to talk about military alliances. The only way we can win against The Huns and The Akatsuki is if we all come together once again to defeat the enemy," answered the Emperor.

"Why should we involve the others in this? We didn't need to let them help us in the previous war against smaller rogue nations, because we could handle those," the Uchiha asked, confused.

The Emperor closed his eyes. "Just like you said earlier, the Huns and the Akatsuki are an even larger threat than before. They are huge in number and obviously stronger than ever. We cannot overestimate our own country's power now. We will need the help of our sister nations this time."

"But, your Majesty-" Itachi was about to protest when the Emperor raised his hand to silence him. "I will not hear any complaints from this General Uchiha, we alone cannot defeat the enemy. We will need alliances with the other lands. Do I make myself clear, General?"

Itachi bowed his head. "Yes, your Majesty."

"Good, I need you to start sending soldiers to all the villages in The Land of Fire immediately, in order to recruit more. We will need all we can gather."

Itachi nodded in agreement at Emperor Sarutobi's words. "You have my word, your Majesty. I will gather all the soldiers that I can." With that, Itachi bowed and turned to leave, but the Emperor called out to him and he stopped.

"General, if I may ask, who is it that you're going to give the duty of Captain-Commander for the upcoming war?" asked The Emperor curiously.

Itachi then smiled, his back still turned towards the Emperor. "I believe that you will know that very well, your Majesty," he replied, the smile still plastered on his face.

"Hmm, could it be, that it is...Naruto Uzumaki?" said the Emperor, a smile also forming on his face.

"I knew you'd know, your Majesty." And with that, Itachi took his departure.

Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto had proven great leadership in the previous war against small nations a few years back. He was the one who'd led them to great victory, along with Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, and a beloved friend he'd made during his training days, Neji Hyuuga, who had died bravely in battle.

He had gained recognition in all of The Land of Fire for his bravery, and had earned a medal of Honor from the Emperor himself.

And so it was decided that Naruto Uzumaki, the hero of the previous war, would become the Captain-Commander of the Land of Fire's forces for the upcoming war.

* * *

_**PRESENT DAY...**_

Hinata followed the sound of the drums all the way to the center of the village. She started seeing that all the villagers were gathering around. She tried to make her way to the center to see what the commotion was about, but all the people were packed tightly together, so she couldn't make her way through nor could she see anything at all. She tried to think of another way to see what was going on.

Hinata then got an idea. She made her way towards a rooftop that was near. She had a bit of trouble climbing with her kimono, but she finally managed to get on. Once she had finally made it to the top, she started searching for the source of the gathering. And of course, it wasn't hard to spot, more like it was hard to miss.

There in the center stood one of the emperor's council members. He was surrounded by a couple of army soldiers that were on their horses. Hinata tried to pay close attention to what the council member was saying.

"...Huns have invaded China, along with the Akatsuki!" A collection of gasps were heard. Hinata widened her eyes.

"So we have been ordered to recruit all old and new members for the war that's coming our way, from all villages in The Land of Fire!" All the people started talking among themselves.

The council member then took out a scroll and read it. "We will call out names of all the men of age in each family, and each will be given a scroll of identification. You'll be needing it to get to the training camp and show it to identify yourself. If you are called out but can no longer fight, your eldest son will be chosen in your place."

The council member then started calling out the names.

Hinata couldn't believe what was happening! Another war? Recruits? All this brought back the horrible memories of the death of her beloved cousin Neji. She couldn't take that and started climbing off the building to head back home, that is, until she heard something that almost made her heart stop beating for a few seconds.

"Hiashi Hyuuga!"

Hinata's head whipped with speed towards her father. _No._

For the last couple of months, her father Hiashi had fallen ill and his body had turned weak due to the illness. If he didn't take care of himself properly, he would've been dead by now. But thanks to her, her mother and her sister, they took care of him and his every need, and he slowly started getting back on his feet. Right now he was in no condition to be fighting, any less going into a war.

Hiashi started making his way towards the council member, and stopped when he was right in front of him.

"I will protect this country and my family at the cost of my life. It is an honor to serve the Emperor." Hiashi bowed down towards Mizuki, the council member.

Hinata couldn't believe what she was seeing! Her father wasn't crazy enough to go to war in his state, was he? He was ill, he could- he could-!

Horrible memories of Neji's death started swarming her mind, but instead of Neji, it was her father that was dead this time. _I can't let this happen again, I won't lose another precious person to me!_

Without a second thought, Hinata climbed down the roof as fast as she could and ran all the way to where her father was. He was about to take the scroll from the council member's hand, when suddenly-

"FATHER, YOU CAN'T GO!" Hinata didn't intend to shout, but her terrified screams were filling her up and she had to let them out.

Everyone turned to look at her, even the council member and his soldiers. "What's the meaning of this?" asked Mizuki.

"Hinata! What are you doing here?" questioned her father in shock.

Hinata ignored her father and motioned to the council member, "Please sir, don't take him to war. My father is ill and in no condition to fight!" she pleaded.

"Ugh, someone get this woman out of here, she's interrupting our duties!" the council member signaled his soldiers.

"You can't do this! You just said if the man were to be ill, he's not to be recruited!" Hinata looked at the man desperately.

"I clearly stated that if they were ill, their eldest son would take their place. Do you have an older brother, Missy?" Mizuki asked sourly.

She was about to answer, "No", when the voice of her father interrupted her. "You're embarrassing me, Hinata. It's best if you just leave."

Hinata turned towards her father in surprise, only to see that he wasn't even looking at her. It was like if she wasn't even there, like he was talking to a wall. _Why won't you look at me, Father?_

She was about to call out to him when she heard the whispers among the crowd.

"Isn't that the girl from earlier?"

"Another troublemaker."

"Way to embarrass your father."

"If she were my daughter, I would've already disowned her."

_I did it again! Now what will people say about our family? What have I done?!_

And as if that wasn't embarrassing enough, the soldiers that were with the council member suddenly appeared in front of Hinata, only to grab her and started taking her away.

Hinata's mother then interfered and told the soldiers that she'll take care of her.

The Hyuuga heiress didn't say anything, nor did she protest. She just stood beside her mother, keeping quiet for the rest of the announcing. She glanced at her father, who kept ignoring her. She saw how he accepted the scroll and turned towards them. He started walking their way, but once he was near, he completely passed up her mother and her. Her mother then followed her father back home, taking Hinata with her.

All the young girl could do was try not to cry on the way home, even though the tears were threatening to fall. This was the second time she did something dishonorable in one day.

_What can I do now?_ Hinata sadly wondered as they made their way back home.

* * *

**Ok, so Deidara's little speech at the end was a bit cheesy, but I wrote it anyway!**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and so, till next time!**


	4. Hinata's Decision

**Sup, I'm back, people!**

**Let's get this fic on the road! Cricky, get the bags!**

**Ready? Start!**

* * *

**4\. Hinata's Decision**

Hinata sat in her room alone. It was already getting dark outside, and looking up at the sky, you could tell it was going to rain soon.

It was almost time for dinner, but Hinata didn't feel like going down to eat. She just wanted to stay in her room all night and sleep, hoping to wake up and realize that today's events were just a nightmare. But Hinata knew they weren't. She didn't want to come down and confront her father after what she had done. She couldn't face him yet, but she knew that skipping dinner was out of the question; if a family member didn't show up at the table, they would just get dragged down by force. So, Hinata just waited for one of the maids to come and call her to dine.

She laid on her bed, thinking of all the mistakes she had made that day. It was a miracle she didn't cry on her way home, nor was she crying now. She didn't want to; she had done enough crying for one day.

Hinata decided that laying around wouldn't do her any good, so she sat up in her bed, took out a brush and started brushing her hair. It sort of took her mind off things when she did, so she pretty much needed this. She didn't know for how long she had been brushing, but it must not have been long since a knock on the door was later heard. Dinner was ready.

"Lady Hinata, your family awaits you for dinner," called out one of the maids through the closed door.

Hinata looked up and answered, "T-Thank you, I'll be right d-down." She waited for the maid to walk away before she sighed. She didn't want to face her parents right now. They had forgiven her for her first mistake, but it would be too much for them to forgive her a second time.

The lavender-eyed heiress turned her head to the side to catch a glimpse of her reflection in one of the mirrors of her room. She stared at herself for a few minutes, wondering how she had gotten to where she was right now. How did she get here? What can she do? _What do I do, Neji? What can I do? Father..._

"Lady Hinata?" Hinata snapped back to reality, focusing on the voice that had called out to her. "Are you coming down?" asked the maid from a few minutes ago; it seemed she had come back.

"U-Uh, yes, I'm coming out now. T-Thank you." And with that, Hinata dreadfully left her room to join her family for dinner.

* * *

Hinata couldn't be more uncomfortable right now. She had come down to the eating quarters, sat on a cushion, and started eating without even glancing at anyone. But around the table was so quiet, so awkward, that her swallowing sounded like thunder in the room.

She glanced around the table. Everyone had their heads down, small words were exchanged between her father and mother, and Hanabi tried to talk about how her day had gone and what she did.

But soon, everything had died down and it was back to the uncomfortable silence. The only thing in Hinata's mind right now, was her father. Here he was, acting like going to war was no big deal, like if he wasn't ill and could die if he left. He just sat there, eating like on any normal day, and Hinata did not like that.

Why did he have to go? Why? She didn't want to lose him too. She knew she would suffer greatly if a scroll were to be sent to their home, announcing that he had died in battle. She didn't want to go through that pain again.

Hinata couldn't take it anymore - she had to say it. The urge just kept increasing ever since she'd sat down to eat. She took a deep breath before she spoke.

"You shouldn't have to go," she managed to say in all seriousness, but her hands started to tremble as she took a sip of her tea.

"What?" Her father looked at her as he furrowed his brows. He seemed to already suspect where this was going.

"I think you know what I'm talking about, Father," Hinata shut her eyes tightly, " ...and you can't go! Please, Father!"

Hiashi sighed, closed his eyes and continued to eat. "Hinata, we are not to discuss this. My decision is final and nothing will change my mind. I am to bring honor to this family."

"Father! If your death is the price for the honor of this family, then I do not want it!" Hinata raised her voice a bit louder than usual, like she had done earlier today when she'd tried protesting against her father accepting the scroll for war.

"Hinata!" Her mother slammed her tea cup down, almost spilling the drink on the table. "Hinata, you are being selfish! Honor to our family is everything! You're only thinking what is best for you and you alone. Your father fighting in the war for the sake of this country is grandly honorable."

"Mother, do you not care for Father? Are you not worried about his health? He is in no condition to be fighting!" Hinata pleaded with her eyes to her mother.

"Yes." Her mother looked down at the table, a sad expression evident on her face. "I am worried about your father, and I wish he didn't have to go. But this is his decision, and we will respect it."

Hiashi moved his hand to grip her mother's. She gave him back a squeeze.

Hinata just stared at her, then turned her head towards Hanabi to see if she could help her out. She had been very quiet since Hinata's little outburst a few moments ago. But when she glanced at her, Hanabi wasn't even looking at her - only just staring at the table. Hinata knew her sister didn't want to get involved. Was it really over? Was no one willing to side with her? _No, I am not giving up just yet! _She turned back to her father.

"Father, please reconsider, you could-you could..."

"I could what, Hinata?" Hiashi looked at his daughter with a sudden angry expression.

"You could die!" The words she feared to think were finally out, and they did not make her feel any better.

Just then, Hiashi stood up from his sitting position and glared at her. "I am to fight to protect my family and this country with all my will, and I am not worried about death-"

"But Fa-"

"And I am to bring back our honor to this family, especially after what you did today. How would the village see us now? You, who embarrassed me in front of the emperor's council man. You, who is the only woman her age who is still single and without a husband. And you, who not even me going to war might be enough to take back our honor and respect, thanks to your little antics! You have embarrassed us all and who knows what types of rumors are being said about us behind our backs right at this moment!" He lowered his eyes at her. "And I am _done_ with this conversation!"

Hiashi sat back down on his cushion, somehow gracefully even in his agitation. He closed his eyes, slowly let out a deep, calming breath, and took a sip of his tea. It was obvious he was not going to listen to another word about this topic.

Hinata was shocked, staring at her father. Why would he do this? Why? She started feeling worse. Maybe this was all her fault, after all. Her father becoming more determined to join the war was really all her fault. Once again, she had failed to accomplish anything. Why did she have to go and ruin everything? _Why_?

The tears were returning and Hinata didn't want her father and the rest of her family to see her crying again. So, she did the only thing she could think of - she ran. She stood as fast as possible from her cushion and sped towards the doors leading outside, tears already pouring out. Even though she said she wouldn't cry, she wasn't able to hold the tears back.

She ran until she reached the double doors and burst them open. She was right, it was greatly pouring outside. The sky had turned a dark shade of gray, and the rain seemed like it wouldn't be stopping anytime soon. But that didn't stop her from running out to the gardens. Right now, she didn't care about getting soaked. All she wanted at this moment was to get away. Away from the pain. Away from the sadness. She had let her family down, embarrassed them in front of the whole village. She had allowed her father decide to leave, and there wasn't anything she could do about it.

Hinata continued running in the heavy rain, getting soaked, and she didn't care. Her salty tears were mixing in with the saltiness of the rain.

Not being careful, she slipped on a large puddle. She fell forward, not being able to stop herself in time and hit the ground with a loud splash. Hinata stayed down for a couple of seconds, weeping, then tried getting up, but her arms kept shaking so hard that she just kept falling back into the puddle.

The sadness, desperation, and humiliation she felt, nearly overwhelmed her right then and there. She couldn't help but let out a loud sob, allowing herself to cry as much as she needed, in order to try calming down. After what felt like a long time, she decided to crawl towards a few big rocks that were stuck together, forming a small little space where it was dry.

Once she had finally reached the small dry space, she wrapped her arms around her crouched legs, making herself into a little ball. And she cried some more.

* * *

After what felt like hours, the rain had finally stopped. But it remained dark outside, being already nighttime.

Hinata remained wrapped in her own arms. Having finally stopped crying, she listened to her surroundings, trying to take her mind out of tonight's events. She then decided to lift her head, looking to see if the rain had fully stopped so she could make a run to her room. No one would be able to see her going in, since by now, everyone was surely asleep.

Then, something out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. She turned towards the two moving figures in the distance.

The two black silhouettes of her mother and father were visible through the white windows of her home. A candle was lit in their room, so Hinata could easily make them out.

It seemed like her father was trying to cheer her mother up by hugging her and holding her hand. His mouth was moving, but Hinata couldn't make out what he was saying. She saw her mother had her hand over her mouth, her body seemingly trembling, and immediately knew she was crying.

The Hyuuga heiress stared at the scene before her. Her mother was suffering, no doubt that Hanabi must be doing so too. What? Did she really believe she was the only one suffering in all this? She suddenly felt stupid for believing that. They were all suffering, even her father.

Hinata continued to stare at both of her parents. Her mother had removed her hand from her father's, turned and walked away from sight. Her father tried following her, but it seemed he found it useless, knowing he wouldn't be able to comfort her right now. In the end, the silhouette of her father turned to grab the only lit candle and blew on it. The light forming his silhouette disappeared, fading out into the darkness.

The night turned quiet and Hinata never left her sight from the window. She stared at it, not moving.

What if...what if her father didn't need to go? What if there was a way that he could stay here? Where he was safe and sound, with his family? Someone could take his place... Yes... All she needed was to convince someone from their huge family to go in his stead... The council man never said that the recruit had to be from the _main_ family... Anyone could take his place..._yes_, that's_ it_!

Hinata, with hope in her eyes, started crawling out of the little space between the rocks, until realization hit her.

What was she thinking? Of course that wouldn't work! No one in their right mind would take her father's place! They would think that it was disrespectful to him and his family. Having someone else cover for her family was the most dishonorable thing ever for the Hyuuga. And her father...! He would never allow something like that to happen! He wouldn't dream of ever giving up his position for someone who wasn't his own son!

Losing all hope from her eyes, Hinata slowly crawled back into the hole.

If only she had been born a boy. Everything would have been easier. She wouldn't have had to go through the awful incident with the matchmaker, and she would take her father's place, making him proud at the same time. She would be able to take care of herself and not get married for a longer time than a woman should. If only she could turn back time and choose to be born a boy. How life would been much easier that way.

_Or if only I could dress up as a man to join the army in my father's place._ In near hopelessness, Hinata smiled slightly at her silly little thought.

_Wait..._ Hinata's eyes widened suddenly. Was it possible? Could such a thing be done? Was she capable of pulling something like that off? She knew it would be punishable by death if a woman were to be caught disguised as a soldier of the emperor's army.

But, something like that had never really happened before...because it was absurd if you even let it cross your mind... To put it simply, no one would suspect a woman impersonating a soldier, anyway... So, yes... All she really needed was to be careful of not getting caught...

Hinata paused her strange thoughts. Was she really thinking about doing this? Was she fully aware of what was going through her mind right now? Was she crazy and desperate enough to commit such an absurd act?

Only one answer passed through Hinata's mind in that instant. _Yes..._

That's it. She could do it. She was convinced she could do it. She knew she was strong enough to pull it off. Hinata was strong. She didn't need a man in her life to protect her. Women could be just as strong as men if they wanted to be; not literally in the physical way, of course. She could protect herself, and her family. It was her turn to protect her loved ones. She would choose what to do and what not to do. Commencing now, her first major decision would be...to protect her father by taking his place in the army of the Land of Fire.

This was Hinata's resolve.

With her increasing determination, the Hyuuga heiress crawled out of the dry space in the rocks as fast as she could. She had to leave tonight. This was her only chance before her father left the next day.

Once out of the hole, Hinata sprinted back to the house, having trouble on the way due to being soaked and splashing on the puddles.

She opened the double doors slowly once she had reached the entrance. She walked in without making a noise. The house had all the lights turned off, so it was completely dark. The only light available was the moon's light that shone through the windows. But it was enough to know what was where.

Hinata looked around the room, searching for something. Once she spotted it, she moved towards it and grabbed a piece of paper. She took out an ink pen that was on the table, and wrote a few words on the blank sheet: _I have to do this. I am sorry, and I hope you can forgive me someday._

She read it once and twice after she was done.

Soaking wet with the paper in hand, Hinata took a deep breath and tip-toed towards her parents' bedroom. She was careful not to make any kind of noise. She reached the door to their room before opening it as quietly as she could. Entering in small steps, she walked towards her parents' bed before stopping in front of them. She took a deep, shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," she whispered sadly, but determinedly.

Hinata saw the scroll on the table by her father and reached for it. In exchange for the scroll, she put the piece of paper she had written on in its place. She turned back towards the door before she glanced back to look at her beloved parents. She gave them a small smile, then turned to face the front and tip-toed her way out of the bedroom, closing the door quietly behind her.

After leaving their quarters safely, she immediately went straight to her younger sister's room.

_Hanabi..._

Hinata carefully opened Hanabi's bedroom door and went in. Her little sister was sleeping soundly in her bed, clutching one of their father's robes. Hinata smiled at the scene. She closed in on her when she noticed that her eyes were red from crying.

_Oh, Hanabi, I'm sorry._

Hinata had the immediate urge to hug her small sister. But she had to hold it in; she was soaking wet in her kimono, and she didn't want to risk waking her up. But one thing she did do was to lean down and press a small light kiss on her sister's forehead.

_I love you, Hanabi._

A few tears slipped from Hinata's eyes before she drew back. She will return home. In that moment, she promised herself she would. For her sister, for her father, for her mother. She would prove to her father especially, that she could be strong. Strong enough to protect him and the family. This family will not be losing any more members any time soon. And it will remain like that for years to come. Now it was up to her to survive the upcoming events.

Hinata backed away and went out of Hanabi's room before closing the door lightly.

It was now or never.

* * *

Hinata opened the closet doors to where she knew her father kept his army garments. She stared at them in awe, then she shook off the dumb look on her face and grabbed the armor and clothing. She was taking them out when she glanced at herself in a small mirror that was attached to the wall, and paused.

Her hair was too long.

She couldn't go dressed up as a man with such long hair. Hinata stared at herself for a few more minutes before making her decision. She was going to cut it short. She had to do it. Her hair would grow back eventually. Nothing to worry about.

Looking around the room, she spotted her father's sword. She let out a shaky breath before reaching to grab it, and then sat down on the floor to keep herself calm. She inhaled and exhaled a couple of times before raising the sword towards her hair. With her other hand, she took a hold of her hair in a fist, so that it would make the cut faster and easier. Hinata shut her eyes as tight as she could. She waited a few more minutes to calm down again. And finally, in one swift movement, sliced her hair short. Her silky indigo-colored hair fell freely to the floor. It was now up to her shoulders.

The young woman turned to look at herself in the mirror. Her beautiful, long hair was now gone. But it was worth it, just a small price to pay for her decision. She grabbed the lace that was in the armor and tied her hair up in a bun, the type of bun a male soldier with long hair would sport. She still had her bangs, but there were males out there with bangs too, so she didn't need to cut those off, thank goodness.

After having finished doing her hair, she stood up and undressed herself. She turned towards the outfit she had taken out of the closet before reaching towards it. She was about to put the shirt on when she noticed her chest. Now_ that_ would be more problematic than her hair had been. There was no way she could hide that big chest of hers...

_There must be something I can do to hide this._ Hinata thought for a couple of minutes before an idea popped in her head. _Bandages!_ She immediately searched around the room for a set of bandages. She easily found them in a drawer and took them out. She started unrolling them and pressed the first piece to her chest. She started rolling the bandages carefully around her chest as tightly as she could, actually flattening it to a decent size. Once she was done, she turned to look in the mirror. The size was good enough. She could easily hide her now less-noticeable breasts with her father's baggy soldier clothes, and since she'd be wearing armor too, this could actually work out.

Hinata quickly started putting on the clothing and armor as fast as she could. She tied and twisted and tightened. It took her quite a while to be done with dressing out, but she had finally finished. She really needed to quicken her pace. Once she had attached her sword to the armor, she slowly started to walk out of the spare room where her father kept his stuff. She walked quietly through the hallways until she reached the double doors leading outside. Giving one last glance towards the house, she pushed the doors open and slid out.

She made her way towards the stables, going to get her horse, Akamaru. She opened the gates leading inside, and went straight towards him. At first, the horse went a little wild when he noticed there was an unknown person closing in on him, but Hinata immediately started to soothe him. He eventually recognized her, calming down.

Hinata then led Akamaru out of the stables carefully. She took one more look at her home before she mounted on her horse. She pulled on his reigns and took off into the darkness of the night.

It had started raining again.

* * *

**Finally done with this chapter, wooo!**

**For those of you SasuSaku fans who are reading this, please be patient! There will be SasuSaku in later chapters. I planned it since before writing this story; it's just that I'm not gonna tell ya'll how they're going to fit in 'cause I'd be spoiling it, but I got everything planned out for them (well, mostly everything), so please be patient, 'cause they'll appear later!**

**Also, guess who finally appears next chapter... ;)**


	5. Commander Uzumaki!

**I'm here! ...What?**

**Let's continue the story!**

* * *

**5\. ****Commander Uzumaki!**

The sun shone brightly on this awaited day. Men from all over the Land of Fire were lining up before the registration tables at the entrance of the training camp. Each and every one of them jotted down their names in scrolls and identified themselves. Once each would register, they would enter the camp area to set up their tents, like they were required to do. Starving from the long journey they made to arrive at camp, the rookies headed to the huge dining tents for a meal.

Stationed a few meters away were the lavish tents of the General and Commander. Right before them stood a tall, blond, young man, his hands on his hips.

He looked at the rookies with interest and something akin to nostalgia, but most of all, with _pity_. The scene before him reminded him of the time _he_ had been one of them. It had only been a few years ago when he had trained in these same campgrounds for the war between the Land of Fire and small, rogue nations. At the time, he'd had only a vague idea of what he'd gotten himself into. He suspected several rookies present probably felt somewhat like that. He really did feel pity for them. He just knew what was to come.

His experience with the previous, minor war had made him see things he hadn't wanted to see. Well, to call it a _minor_ war would be an understatement, because no war is "minor" to anyone who had ever been in one. They just range from bad to worse. But, he had to admit it hadn't been as huge as the previous ones, and it most likely wouldn't compare to the upcoming one against the Huns and the Akatsuki. Still, major destruction had fallen upon several villages and cities. There had been so much blood, so much horror, terror and screaming. People in many places had died. And one of them had been his old friend, Neji Hyuuga.

He still felt guilty that he hadn't been able to save his comrade. It haunted him to this day. He sometimes had nightmares of Neji's death that woke him up from his troubled sleep, sweating and breathing heavily. He looked over at the rookies again, feeling wistful.

He could also guess that several of them just wanted to help protect and defend their loved ones. He'd had thought the same thing back in his training days. Even though he knew that it didn't always work out, he understood those feelings. He could relate.

He had lost his parents to the Huns when he was a small child. (The Huns had already been on the move back then, but only recently had declared war officially.) His mother had hidden him in a closet while she went to help his father fight off the Huns, against his father's protests. They were both murdered that night.

News about the horrifying incident reached the ears of the emperor in the morning, and he had a funeral made in their honor on that same day. Minato, the boy's father, had been his right-hand man before Kakashi. He then decided to place the little boy in an orphanage, hoping a kind family would take him in and give him the love a child needs.

Sadly, it hadn't been as such. The blond had been bullied and mistreated by the other kids at the orphanage, and the women in charge wouldn't do a thing about it. They'd let it all slide and continued on with whatever entertained them. The poor boy had been miserable. He had cried himself to sleep every night when he thought no one would hear. He missed his parents immensely.

After about three years of torture, the nine-year-old had decided to escape the dreadful place. He wanted to go back to his old home, but didn't know how to get there, nor did he know where it was exactly. He had tried asking for help, but no one would pay him any mind. He ended up living in the streets of the large capital city of the Land of Fire.

Once the emperor heard word of the child's escape, he ordered some of his soldiers to go find him. He had become extremely worried and had wondered what the reason could have been for his escape. He'd decided to investigate the orphanage, and discovered that it wasn't a warm and friendly place as he'd thought it was. Immediately, he'd fired the women in charge and had replaced them with actual trustworthy ones. Not long after, the orphanage had become a much better place for the children there.

Meanwhile, the search for the boy in question went on for weeks, but to no avail could the soldiers find him. Said boy had thought they were going to take him back to that horrible place (he didn't know of the recent changes), so he'd hidden from the search party every time he'd spot them roaming the streets. It went on like that for weeks, until eventually they gave up, reporting to the emperor that they couldn't find him. The emperor had decided to end the search, deeply disappointed at the terrible turn of events. He decided to have scrolls with a drawing of the boy placed all around the city, just in case someone would spot him.

Another three years passed and the poor child still roamed the streets, just barely managing to survive each day. He wasn't sure if he was more miserable than back when he was in the orphanage. At least he'd had proper meals there. But no, he wasn't going back. He didn't know how, anyway. The city was too large, and he had most likely made his way to the other side of it by this time.

Everything changed one day when his hunger had been too grand. He had noticed a dark-haired boy who seemed a few years older than himself, walking calmly with a bag of groceries in his hands. Without thinking, the blond ran straight towards him, ready to snatch at least one thing from the bag. However, the older boy was fast to act. Before the little thief could manage to take a hold of an apple, he was rapidly pinned to the ground by the arm. He had stared in shock at the dark-haired boy, who was looking back at him with a frown, the small creases below his eyes lowering slightly.

After a few seconds, his captor had sighed. "You know, if you're that hungry, you could have asked me to give you something. I would have done it with no problem." He pursed his lips in disappointment. "But now, I think I will have to report you."

Immediately, the blond kid's eyes had widened. If he got reported, he'd definitely get found by the soldiers and taken back to the orphanage! He quickly tried to scramble free from the older boy's grasp, but couldn't do it; the latter was too strong.

He had started to panic, his breathing quickened. "Please don't do it! I don't wanna go back! I don't want to live there again!" he exclaimed fervently.

Oncoming tears became visible on the corners of his light blue eyes. He had once again tried to break free from the older boy's grip on him. The other stared at him for a few seconds, his dark eyes seeming to glow a crimson color by the sun's rays. Then, he looked away before standing up slowly, releasing him from his grasp. Not having expected this, the smaller boy had looked up at him in shock, a lonely tear trailing down his dirt-covered cheek.

"Alright. I won't tell anyone. You won't go back to wherever it is you don't want." The raven-haired boy adjusted the grocery bag in his arms and turned around, his long, low ponytail swishing gracefully. "If you don't want to keep living like this, you can come with me. I will make sure you won't have to resort to stealing ever again." He began walking away in the direction he had been headed to.

Some moments had passed, and the small kid wasn't sure what had just happened. He wasn't going to go back to the dreadful orphanage. The older boy had told him he wasn't going to report anything. And had even suggested to…join him. Not really knowing what this was about, but feeling something akin to hope, he had stood up from the ground and ran after him before he lost sight of his retreating back. What followed soon after became a new stage in his life. A rather comfortable one at that.

Fast-forwarding to the minor war that occurred a few years later, he had joined in due to selective service. Even if there wasn't such a thing, he'd still have joined. He wanted to protect everyone around him from any possible harm. He had people precious to him now, unlike in the dark times he'd gone through right after his parents had passed away.

Even though that was his resolve, compared to his former comrades, he'd been the dead last during the training. He had thought he was somewhat street-smart (having lived out in the streets for three years), but it hadn't paid off too well. The training had been stressful and nothing like he'd ever experienced before, but he had kept on moving forward without losing hope, that'd he'd be able to protect at least someone. His efforts and hard work had eventually paid off once he and the others had finally joined their seniors in the war against the rogue nations.

The blond, young man decided to stop his reminiscing and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply. He didn't want to be further distracted by past events. He exhaled slowly and shook his head, then slapped his hands on both his cheeks, trying to compose his thoughts. He lowered them as a smile began forming on his lips.

Today was the day he would finally introduce himself as commander to these soon-to-be soldiers; his students, as you could say. General Uchiha had officially given him the position the other day, and he had been more than honored to accept. He would have never suspected that he would ever get this far (though, everyone had told him they'd seen it coming, and how obvious it was that he was going to be in charge sooner or later).

He looked up at the beautiful sky. The sun illuminated his handsome face, when he heard the scrunching of grass, indicating that someone was walking towards him.

"Naruto."

The blond male turned towards the familiar voice that had called out to him. "Sasuke," he responded equally.

"Itachi is about to depart and wants a word with us," the raven-haired male stated with a bored look on his face. Naruto nodded at his friend's words, then both of them made their way to where said man was located.

General Uchiha and his experienced troops were already joining forces with the other lands to protect a few villages that were currently in danger, as well as to stall for time while the rookies trained. Naruto still had a couple of months before he and his soon-to-be soldiers were to depart and join in the fighting. He needed to prepare them for the upcoming onslaught.

Once he and Sasuke arrived at Itachi's tent, they stood before him expectantly. "You wanted a word with us, General?" Naruto asked, slightly concerned.

The older Uchiha looked at them both before replying, "Not much, just that I trust you guys enough to train these men into the best soldiers they can be." He nodded at the blond. "And Naruto, I know I made a good choice in leaving this position to you." He gave him an encouraging smile.

"Don't you worry about a thing, Itachi - er, I mean, General Uchiha. I'll be sure to train these men as best as I can!" Naruto gave him his trademark grin and a thumbs up.

The older man gave him another nod, then turned towards his younger brother. "Sasuke, I also know that choosing you to be Naruto's Vice-Commander was the right choice. I know you'll keep him out of trouble." Sasuke just stared at his older brother while Naruto gave a small laugh and scratched the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Big Brother, please have a safe journey." The younger, raven-haired man looked at him with concern evident in his eyes. Sasuke rarely showed any expression other than that of boredom and annoyance, so it was surprising when he would clearly show concern over someone. Noticing this, Naruto smiled to himself.

Itachi smiled at Sasuke. "Don't worry about me, little brother. I'll be fine." He closed in on him, raised his hand and gently poked him on the forehead. The younger Uchiha just "tch'd" as he looked away from his brother and Itachi laughed at the gesture.

"Well, it's time for me to take my leave. I'll be seeing you guys in a couple of months." The older Uchiha went to mount his horse, Naruto and Sasuke following behind him. "I leave the rest in your hands, Commander, Vice Commander." Itachi nodded at the both of them, and gave them a salute before he turned and signaled for his soldiers to follow behind. He gave one last wave and rode his horse out of sight, leading the thousands of his troops.

The two younger men waited until their seniors were out of sight. Then, Naruto turned around to face his partner. "Well, let's get back. There are still a few things we need to do before we begin the training." He started to make his way back towards the tents as Sasuke agreed and followed suit.

* * *

"Hello! Nice to meet you! Hey, I see you have a sword. Well, I have one too!" Hinata suddenly tripped on a rock and fell on her stomach.

She had been practicing her male voice and actions for the last two hours. She had barely arrived at the camp and knew that she couldn't just barge in, talking and acting like a girl (pretty much being herself), or else her cover could get blown, and everything she had done so far would have been in vain. So, she had decided to take some time to practice being a man right outside the campgrounds. She had hidden behind some bushes and trees that made a pretty good hiding spot. There was a great view of the camp from there too; it was perfect. She had gotten to work immediately, though the Hyuuga hadn't known it was going to be _this_ hard.

Hinata stood up from the ground and sighed. No matter what or how she did it, she could not come off as manly. She was too shy. How could she prevent herself from being shy around men? Especially men who were strangers to her. What if her voice sounded too high, or what if she accidentally squeaked when spoken to? She tried to make her voice sound like a guy's, but it only came out scruffy, as if she were a young boy. Trying to walk like a man only came off as kind of awkward, as if she couldn't walk properly. She wasn't sure how she was going to pull this off before approaching the camp.

The short-haired beauty started pacing back and forth in worry. The registration tables were closing in thirty minutes and she just wasn't ready. She pondered over her current predicament. She wasn't going to achieve in thirty minutes what she couldn't achieve in two hours. There was just no more time to get her act together. _I guess that leaves me no choice…_

She was going to risk it. She was just going up there to improvise everything. _People usually tend to do better when they're under pressure, right?_

Well, she was about to find out.

* * *

"Hiashi Hyuuga?" The men sitting down at the registration tables looked from the name in the scroll to the "man" that was right in front of them.

"Uh, yes! Yes! Um-uh, my-my father's name is Hiashi Hyuuga. I'm his eldest son here to take his place, since, you know, he's not in top form at this moment." Hinata tried her best with her male voice, still sounding scruffy, but seemed to have succeeded, since the men didn't question it. The three of them just raised their eyebrows and nodded.

Hinata gave a sigh of relief in her mind. She did not want to look suspicious in front of these men if she sighed out loud.

"Alright, your name?" one of them questioned suddenly.

"Hi-!" She was about to say her own name when she abruptly stopped herself. _Uh oh_. That didn't even cross her mind! How could she have forgotten to think up a male name? Now she only had a few seconds to come up with one! _Come on, Hinata, think!_

"Hi-…" she uttered, musing. Her mind swirled in search for possible names that begun with those first two letters.

The three men raised their eyebrows at her again. "Hi-… What?" They seemed to be running out of patience.

Hinata just then spouted whatever word came to the tip of her tongue. "-ro!" Well, that didn't sound good.

"Ro?" questioned the men at the very odd name. Hinata wanted to blush severely, but tried holding it back… if that was even possible.

She blurted, "Hi-…-ro! Hiro! Hiro Hyuuga!" There, that sounded better, and more realistic. She held back the big sigh of relief she was about to release.

"Hiro Hyuuga…okay." One of the men wrote the name on the list and kept the scroll, just like with everybody else's. "Okay, NEXT!" he shouted afterwards.

That was the signal. She was officially in. She made it.

Hinata thanked the men and made her way inside the camp. She held on to Akamaru's reigns as she led him through the large gate, managing to ignore all the men in her way as she searched for a good spot where she could set up her tent. The farther away from the others, the better. She was able to maneuver her way to a decent area that was a good distance from everyone else.

"Alright, here we are, Akamaru." Hinata tried to sound confident, but deep inside, she was nearly dying. She was so nervous, she could sweat a waterfall.

Trying to calm herself, she decided to set up her tent. "Okay, I better get to work."

Hinata grabbed the manual and took her time in reading the instructions. Step by step, she tried to follow them as she read. It was horrible. The sun was shining so brightly that it was awfully hot outside. She tried doing everything the instructions told her, but every time she had finally gotten to attach two poles, they ended up falling down and separating. For the next three hours, Hinata tried folding, attaching, connecting, and spreading, until she collapsed. The tent was just a huge bundle in the grass. She managed to sit up, feeling utterly exhausted.

"Okay, maybe I'll do it later." Hinata was a little frustrated with not being able to build her tent, but she wasn't the type to groan and complain about it. She tried to remain calm and collected, as typical of a Hyuuga, though she was a little sad that she couldn't get to do it yet.

At that moment, her stomach grumbled. Boy, was she hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since she left her home last night. The young woman glanced at the sky and guessed it must be about five o'clock in the afternoon. She needed to eat. Sounds could be heard from one of the large tents in which the men gathered to eat. It wouldn't hurt to approach them; she would just go in, grab something and come back here to eat it. Sounded like a good plan.

Hinata stood up from her sitting position and jogged her way towards one of the huge dining tents. "Here I go," she whispered as she took a deep breath and pushed one of the flaps to the side. She was not prepared for what she saw.

Before her, were hundreds of men chatting and laughing boisterously with each other. All around the tent, they were eating, joking, and even arguing loudly. Others were shirtless and comparing muscles with one another.

Hinata was not familiar with this unruly atmosphere.

She let out a shaky breath and took a timid step inside, but stopped herself abruptly. D-Did a naked man just pass by her!?

Yep, she was definitely _not_ familiar with this atmosphere at all. Nor did she like it.

Her stomach grumbled again, reminding her of why she was here. The young woman sighed and forced herself to maneuver through the crowd towards the selection table, trying not to stand out in any way. She was smaller and slimmer than most men here, but she noticed some that looked similar, so hopefully no one would find her suspicious.

Once she arrived to her destination, Hinata looked at all the food that was available. White rice, shrimp, noodles, dumplings, beef, pork, chicken and fish. To drink, there was only water and tea. She was pretty hungry, so she grabbed a plate and put a little bit of everything on it. The Hyuuga heiress was used to high quality meals, but this food looked just as good right now, so she didn't mind at all. Once she stuffed her plate, she decided on sweet tea instead of water. Now on to head back to her unfinished tent…she would just sit on the grass and eat this...

"Hey! What's up?" Hinata paused mid-step and prayed whoever called wasn't talking to her. She turned around timidly.

"You seem pretty secretive and quiet over here. What's your name, man?" The young male who had spoken was looking straight at her. He had brown hair and red marks on both his cheeks.

"Uh-Um…" Hinata couldn't answer, she was sort of stunned. She hoped she wasn't blushing or else it would be pretty weird.

"Name's Kiba!" He gave her a smile and Hinata noticed two of his teeth resembled fangs. She also noticed that he looked kind of cute when he smiled. She really hoped she wasn't blushing.

"My- Ahem!" Whoa, she almost spoke with her normal voice. She immediately switched her voice to her scruffy one as she had done earlier. "My name is Hi-Hiro. Hiro Hyuuga."

Kiba furrowed his brows, as if something occurred to him, then his face immediately brightened. "Ohhh! Hyuuga? Like, Neji Hyuuga?"

Hinata widened her eyes at the name. How did he know of her cousin? There were only rookies here, no? She needed to find out. "You-You know Neji?" She stared intently at the young man called Kiba.

His smile widened. "Who doesn't? He was one of the men who helped Sir Uzumaki and Sir Uchiha during the last war. He died though… Are you related to him?" he asked curiously.

Of course! What was she thinking? It shouldn't be surprising that people would know about her cousin! He had been declared a war hero by the emperor.

She didn't quite remember either of those two names Kiba had mentioned, but she had a vague idea of who those men were. During Neji's funeral, it had been stated by the priest that Neji had given his life to protect someone with one of those two names. She couldn't remember whose it was. All that had plagued her mind that day was the terrible truth of her beloved cousin's death.

"Oh, haha, yeah. Um-uh, we-we're in the same family, but distant relatives. I barely knew him." Hinata tried to smile and hoped that Kiba had bought the story. She did not remember that she had told the men at the registration tables, that she was the supposed eldest son of Hiashi Hyuuga, Neji's uncle. Man, how that would later complicate things…

"Oh well, but at least you're in the same family! And kind of look alike…plus, you guys have the same eyes!" Kiba scratched the back of his head a bit. "Man, the Hyuugas have such rare eyes. I wonder how that came to be," he muttered to himself, musing.

Hinata gave a hearty laugh (tried her best to sound male) and smiled. This Kiba seemed like a good man. Guess she didn't mind him.

Just then, someone came out of nowhere and stood next to the young man before her. Kiba turned to him with a grin. "Hey, Shino! Meet my new friend, Hiro! He's a distant relative of Neji Hyuuga!"

The man named Shino nodded. He had dark brown hair and dark shades covering his eyes **(let's just say sunglasses existed in this era, lol)**, seeming mysterious in a way.

"Hello, Shino," Hinata greeted politely. Said man just nodded his head again. Kiba quickly waved a hand dismissively. "Ah, excuse him, he doesn't talk much. He's not much of a talker." He smiled in embarrassment, not wanting to look bad in front of a member of the esteemed Hyuuga family.

"No, it's okay." For some reason, Hinata liked this Shino guy too. He seemed quiet and collected, kind of like her.

All of a sudden, a random man bumped into her at full force, sending her forward with her food and drink still in hand. She slammed right into Kiba, spilling all the food and tea right on him. The man that had bumped into her turned around and apologized. Hinata was about to repeat the same words to her talkative peer, when she noticed he'd walked right past her and punched the other man in the face. She gaped in shock.

"You ruined my shirt, you bastard!" shouted a ticked-off Kiba. He turned towards Hinata. "It's not your fault, Hiro. It's _this_ idiot's fault for ruining my shirt." He glared at the culprit, who was trying to get up from the ground. Said man looked suddenly enraged and was about to return the punch, but Kiba was faster, punching him again. The older man fell back to the ground on his bottom, looking shocked, as if he hadn't expected the younger man to beat him to the punch **(pun intended?)**. Then he stood back up, cracked his knuckles and neck, and positioned himself in a fighting stance. Kiba smirked and did just the same.

Hinata felt stuck in place. She couldn't believe what was happening. It had all just been an accident. Why were they going to fight over it? She wanted to intervene, to tell them to stop, but then noticed a crowd of other men slowly gathering around the two opponents. They all seemed hyped up and some of them even began engaging in fights of their own.

The young Hyuuga looked around in utter shock. There were now rambunctious shouts and growls, cuss words and insults thrown around, and already some unconscious people. It was totally motley. She knew that if she didn't get out of here soon, she would get easily beaten. She couldn't fight off any of these rowdy men, and even if she could, she didn't want to join in the senseless fighting. She had to quickly make her escape without getting noticed.

Hinata started to back out of the scene, heading towards the exit. Barely halfway there, she noticed that practically everyone else in the tent had joined in the brawling as well, and seemingly for no reason at all. It was now utter chaos all around. The lavender-eyed beauty did not intend to become a victim. She paced faster towards the flaps of the tent, anxious to leave this disastrous place.

"Hey! Don't think you can get away!" A tall man ran towards Hinata, raising his fist in the air. He brought it down hard, ready to strike her, when she suddenly wasn't there before him.

"Huh? Where'd he go? Oh, well." The man turned around and punched someone else that was close by. The other returned the punch, and then both engaged in a skirmish of their own.

Luckily, Hinata had avoided the man's fist by dropping to her knees, and then started crawling away as fast as she could on the grass. Since she was small and the men were bigger, she would barely be noticed if she stuck to the ground. As she neared her destination, her lavender eyes dreadfully laid on a group of men fighting it out right there, blocking the entrance.

_Oh no! I won't be able to make it past them! How am I going to get away from here?_

Hinata winced in defeat. She decided it was best to hide somewhere until the crazy fray was over. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, trying to find a good hiding spot. Her gaze stopped at a nearby table, which seemed almost isolated from the rest. There were hardly any men around it. _There!_

She quickly made her way over and crawled under it, having managed to avoid getting stumbled or stepped on. She really hoped no one would take the time to pay attention to this spot. If anyone did, they'd notice her right away, since not a single wooden table was covered with a tablecloth.

Hinata folded her knees up against herself, and closed her eyes tightly as she put both of her hands over her ears to block out the nearly deafening noise. Like that, she waited until it was over.

* * *

"Okay, so then we-" Naruto stopped mid-sentence and frowned. He was in the middle of a meeting, when he heard the heavy racket coming from one of the dining tents.

"What's going on?" Sasuke questioned, raising an eyebrow. The other people at the meeting looked at each other in confusion.

One of the emperor's council men, Mizuki, stood up from his cushion and looked straight at Naruto. "As the commander, you ought to check what on earth is happening with your soldiers. We will wait here." The others nodded in agreement.

Naruto stood up without hesitation. "I'll be back as soon as I can," he responded as he furrowed his brows, wondering what all the fuss was about.

"Eh, you can take all the time you need. I'll just rest here while we wait," a young man with a black, spiky ponytail stated lazily.

"Shikamaru's right. We'll just take a rest here meanwhile," agreed an older man with silver, spiked-up hair, and a dark mask covering half his face.

"You guys seriously need to stop lazing around! This isn't a resting place!" shouted Mizuki towards both men. The one with silver hair, Kakashi, and Shikamaru both ignored his outburst and laid back on the floor with their hands behind their heads, closing their eyes in the process.

Kakashi was the emperor's right-hand man. He was sent to the training camp to check and overlook everything and report to him on how the troops were doing. Shikamaru was Kakashi's own assistant. He was more of an adviser though, having proven how extremely intelligent and a good tactician he was, while he had fought during the previous war. He'd be of great help to the rookies.

But of course, both of these men were known to be very lazy. It really was no wonder why they were working together.

Kakashi and Shikamaru tuned Mizuki out as he continued to rant. Naruto did the same, being more focused on finding out the reason for the increasing clamor nearby. He paced over to the entrance of the meeting tent and opened the flaps.

"Sasuke," Naruto stated without glancing at him.

"Hn." Sasuke nodded and stood up, following him to go check out what in the world was going on with the group in dining tent number one; the largest of the three.

* * *

Hinata had yet to open her eyes and remove her hands from her ears. She didn't know how long it had been already, but she could still hear the muffled yells coming from all the crazy men. She was just going to keep waiting down here under the table until everyone calmed down.

All of a sudden, a commanding "_HEY!_" clearly rang throughout the tent, unexpectedly making everything become eerily silent. Apparently, whoever shouted had made all the rowdy men stop what they were doing.

Hinata wondered what had happened. She waited a few more seconds before she opened her eyes and removed her hands from her ears. Everyone really had become completely silent. She could hear her own breathing, which currently sounded too loud. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but let out a shaky sigh of relief.

Her heartbeat quickened when she sensed someone nearing her. She closed her eyes tightly and placed her hands over her ears again, dreading whatever was about to happen. The person stopped right in front of the table she was taking refuge under. Knowing she had no option, no escape, Hinata slowly removed her hands from her ears and started to open her eyes.

She first caught sight of a pair of black leather boots, almost touching the tips of her own. Her eyes timidly trailed upwards, noticing the man's dark and orange attire, then paused for a second before she lifted her gaze to his face. She regretted it the moment they made eye contact.

Piercing blue eyes looked straight at her lavender ones. He did not seem pleased.

Uh oh. She was in trouble.

* * *

**Thanks for reading, guys! Let me know what you think so far :)**

**Ok, I'm going to explain the ages of some of the characters here, so you guys can get the picture.**

**Hinata, Kiba, &amp; Shino - 21**

**Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru, &amp; Neji (If he were still alive) - 23**

**Till next time!**


	6. And So They Meet

**Here's the next chapter, guys!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

**6\. And So They Meet**

Hinata stared at the blond man in front of her with wide eyes. His gaze was locking into hers almost fiercely. Even though right now she really felt like crawling into a hole, she couldn't look away from him; part of it was due to fear, but another part of it, was that she found his eyes somehow...mesmerizing.

They were cerulean blue, making her think of beautiful blue waters and the sky on a sunny day. His eyes had a shine to them that Hinata had never seen in any other person before, and only for a second, did she feel safe for the first time since leaving home.

But then, the feeling went away as soon as he spoke.

"What are you doing?" the man asked in a sort of commanding tone.

Hinata felt the fear come back into her body in an instant. "I-uh, um...I..." She heard some unintelligible whispers among the crowd, and prayed she wasn't getting red from how embarrassing this moment was becoming.

The blond man kept his eyes on her, and for some reason, it was making her blush deeply. She hoped he couldn't see it, since she was still under the table and the shadow of it covered most of her face.

He furrowed his eyebrows and then extended a hand towards her. "Here," he said, as he waited for her to take it so he could help her up.

Hinata stared at his hand, then looked up at his face for a few seconds (waiting for her blush to die down), and noticed he was quite young, maybe her age or a little older. Even more notable, besides his beautiful blue eyes, were some marks on his cheeks that resembled whiskers. She found this curious, but having calmed a tad down, decided to accept his helping hand.

The moment they made contact, Hinata gasped out loud and let go of his firm, but gentle grasp. A sudden spark of electricity had just passed from the tips of her fingers all the way down to her feet.

The young man only gave her a confused look, wondering what had caused her to react that way.

The recruits that were watching the whole scene snickered at Hinata's weird reaction. "*Cough!* Coward *Cough!*" was then heard loudly from one of them. A few snickered some more in response, until the blond man whipped his head around to look at them. His face was expressionless, yet something in his cerulean eyes inflicted fear upon the recruits. They shuddered a bit before becoming silent again.

Hinata was about to die from how humiliating this situation was - maybe even more so than the scandalous one with the matchmaker yesterday. Now everyone was going to think she was a coward and her cover could totally be blown right now, thanks to that little bolt of electricity she had felt. Had the blond man felt it too? If he had, he hadn't shown it. Most likely, he hadn't felt anything - not having reacted strangely to the touch at all, like she had.

Taking in a deep breath, Hinata took said man's still extended hand quickly, before anyone started to wonder about anything. The blond seemed a bit surprised, but nevertheless, helped her up from under the table. Hinata was glad there was no spark this time. She only felt how strong, steady and warm his hand was; it was actually comfortable. When he let her hand go, she almost winced at the loss.

Remembering that right now she was in a tight spot, Hinata tried to calm herself down a bit more. _Focus, Hinata, focus._

"Your hand is so frail, I think I could break it..." the young blond commented, genuine surprise evident on his face.

Hinata's eyes widened. Her heart started beating fast. Panic began to surge within her, making her quickly lose the composure she had just been trying to achieve.

Had her cover been blown?! Would they arrest her now?! Was she going to get killed?! _This was a big mistake...!_ _Oh, no..._

She was about to start hyperventilating, when suddenly, the blond burst out laughing.

Hinata almost felt her heart stop beating as she looked up at him in horror. The rookies also started laughing while she stood there frozen in place, not knowing what to say or do. If these were modern times, one would say she looked like a deer in headlights.

_W-What? Why are they...? What's going on? Are they laughing at my demise? _

After about a minute, Naruto finally stopped laughing and spoke up, "I was just joking! You should've seen your _face_! You looked so freaked out!" He laughed a bit more, and wiped a tear from his eye before he calmed down, the recruits doing the same.

Hinata continued to stare at him, nearly feeling like her heart really stopped. _A...joke? He...He doesn't suspect...?_

She let a shaky breath escape her lips. Her growing fear stopped and began decreasing. Almost fainting from the huge relief she was starting to feel, there was no time to blush from the embarrassment. She had gone into panic mode for no reason, and decided it was necessary to keep her head cool at all times from now on.

The Hyuuga heiress glanced at the young blond, who was now frowning a bit. "What's your name?" he demanded, gazing at her intensely, like he was anticipating something.

The dark-haired beauty let out another shaky breath before responding, "M-My name is Hiro. Hiro Hyuuga." She mentally kicked herself for stuttering, and hoped her scruffy voice didn't sound weird to him.

The blond man's eyes widened. "Hyuuga?" He looked away and muttered, "So you're related to Neji Hyuuga."

Hinata tensed at hearing her cousin's name again today. "Eh-Uh-Um, yeah, but we are distant relatives, so I barely knew him." She prayed he took it.

The blue-eyed male only hummed in understanding, seeming to become lost in thought as he resumed staring at her.

Now feeling awkward, Hinata decided it was best to turn the conversation to another direction, since she did not want to talk about things that were sad, or that could get her caught. Hoping he wouldn't suspect anything, she started tentatively, "Sorry about earlier..."

The young man let his thoughts trail away and focused on the person before him. "Don't worry about it. Everyone gets nervous on their first day!" He smiled at her, his white teeth showing.

The lavender-eyed heiress stared at him for a bit, blushing slightly from the smile he directed at her. She hoped he wouldn't notice her shy reaction, and gave him a small smile back.

"Okay, so we're good then!" the blue-eyed man exclaimed, grinning. As a friendly gesture, he stood beside her and slapped her on the back. Too bad when he did so, because Hinata shot out forward, almost falling to the ground. His eyes widened as he looked at his hand in confusion and then at Hinata in surprise. The rookies stared at her in shock, then some of them started to snicker again.

The sudden impact had hurt Hinata's back, and she held the urge to soothe the pained spot. She knew the gesture was friendly, but it had never been done to her. Heck, she'd only seen men doing that to each other, not women. Like her mother would say, it wasn't lady-like. Besides, maybe if she weren't so weak, she could've taken it _like a man. _She was pretty sure the blond used the same force on his male friends, but for her _frail_ self, it had been a little too much.

She sighed internally. Not wanting to be questioned for yet another weird reaction, Hinata tried to act like it had been nothing. "I'm good. Th-Thank you. I was just caught off guard, haha." She turned to face the young man and stood up straight in place, giving him another small smile.

He just stared at her in confusion, but still smiled back, giving her a firm nod. Then he turned away and looked towards the rowdy recruits, placing his hands on his hips. He wasn't smiling anymore, a slight frown now on his fine features.

"Alright! Dinner is over! Go back to your tents and no one's allowed to go out until tomorrow! _Now!_"

Without questioning him or even hesitating, all the men started scurrying out of the dining tent, some of them shouting out, "Yes, sir!" as they exited out like frightened dogs. Even the previously unconscious people were back up on their feet, as if by magic, and started scrambling out in a similar fashion.

As he watched his men go, Naruto let out a sigh. He had been so excited about introducing himself to the rookies as their commander, but because of the incident, decided to wait until tomorrow. He felt slightly disappointed, but thought that maybe it was better this way. It would probably come off as a huge shock to his men, having heard some of them whispering about him being a war hero and all. Beginning to feel excited once again, he headed towards his best friend.

In a calmer manner than the others, Hinata also started making her way towards the exit, trying not to fall and get trampled on by all the scrambling and shoving that was going on. She was simply relieved and thankful that everyone's attention had been diverted from her.

She suddenly took notice of a raven-haired male that was standing beside the tent flaps, not moving an inch.

He was dressed in a similar attire as the blond man, but instead of combining the color black with orange, it was with dark blue. She could tell he was close to her age and maybe handsome, but for some reason, his presence let out a dark sort of aura that made Hinata feel somewhat cold by just watching him.

She made a mental note to stay away from him; he surely did not look like the type of person to be around with, if you wanted to keep your life. Hinata shuddered at just the thought of standing right next to that man. It seemed like nearly everyone else had the same thought, since they kept their distance from him when exiting the dining tent. He was definitely intimidating.

Just as Hinata neared the entrance, she noticed the blond man walked towards the dark-haired one, and began to converse with him. Unlike everybody else, including herself, he did not seem to be afraid of him. Both men looked like complete opposites, but seemed to get along well. Hinata felt curious about this, but decided to keep heading towards the tent flaps, and exited out into the cool, night air - it wasn't exactly nighttime yet, but it was already getting dark.

She was about to jog all the way back to her tent, when a sudden thought came to her mind, stopping her in her tracks. She needed help setting up her tent. It had all been a mess earlier, and since she couldn't do it in the daytime, she doubted she would be able to build it now in the oncoming darkness. It was best to ask someone for help, rather than wasting more hours in trying to do it by herself. She turned back around on her heel but stopped again.

Who would she ask for help? She wasn't exactly on friendly terms with any of the men yet, and as a matter of fact, who wouldn't make fun of her for not being able to set up her tent? They would surely laugh at her again, and she did not want to appear more useless than she already did.

Just when Hinata hopelessly decided she was going to give her tent another try (knowing she would spend hours on it), she caught sight of the two men she had met in the dining tent: Kiba and Shino. They were already a little distance away from her, going to their own respective tents.

Should she try asking them for help? They seemed to be kind of nice when they chatted with her before the fight broke out; but, several doubts ran in Hinata's mind on why they might not help her, and if she should really just try building the tent by herself again. In the end, after about a minute or so of pondering, she decided to risk asking. Hinata took a deep breath and headed towards both men, hoping they wouldn't find her request bothersome and think she was cowardly (due to the incident earlier). She tensed a bit as she neared them.

"Just because he's a war hero, doesn't mean he can order us around like he's the commander or something! I think I just lost some respect for that blond idiot." Kiba had an annoyed frown on his face as he spoke to Shino, both of them heading towards their tents that were beside each other.

"Kiba, I think he has all the rights to give us orders. And why, you ask? Because he is our senior, our superior. We are but simply rookies compared to him," Shino responded in his usual calm manner.

"Yeah, but- Oh! Hey, Hiro!" Both men stopped in their tracks and faced Hinata, who was only about a few feet away.

When she finally stopped before them, Kiba didn't lose any time. "Can you_ believe_ that conceited jerk just sent us to our tents so early? Who does he _think_ he is?! And he also made you look like a fool in front of _everyone_! Like, what the hell's his problem? We should report this to the commander tomorrow!" Steam seemed to be coming out of his ears as he spoke with contempt.

Hinata gulped nervously at the revelation that even _they_ thought she looked pretty bad during her encounter with the blond man. "Uhhh..." was all she could utter, embarrassed.

"Don't listen to him, Hiro. Apparently, Kiba is just mad that he couldn't finish his fight against the man that bumped into you," Shino spoke up placidly, having noticed Hinata's discomfort.

"I was winning! I was about to land the finishing blow to that bastard when the blond idiot suddenly came out of nowhere! Plus, he ruined my shirt, so I'm more pissed off that I couldn't finish kicking his ass." Kiba continued to whine as Shino shook his head calmly from side to side, pursing his lips in a slight frown.

Hinata stared at both young men and held in a giggle. This wasn't really the time to be laughing, but she had found the moment quite funny. She was glad they were still willing to talk to her, and seemed to have no problem being around her either.

Deciding now was a good time to ask for their help, she started hesitantly, "Uh, sorry for the change of subject, but would you guys mind helping me set up my tent?" She began to feel really nervous as she continued, making her stutter, "Y-You see, I wasn't able to build it earlier and I-I don't want to spend all night working on it." Her nervousness increased now that her request was out of her mouth.

Both men stared at Hinata for a few seconds. "What? But building a tent is so easy! How can you not do it?" Kiba answered curiously.

Hinata felt herself get red in the face from embarrassment and racked her brain for an excuse. "W-Well, y-you know us Hyuugas, haha. We are not that used to the outdoors, aha..." She hoped they took it. It wasn't like she was lying anyway. She really wasn't that used to the outdoors; mostly just the large, safe grounds of her home.

"Ohhhhhh! I see how it is. Don't worry, we'll help you set up your tent! Right, Shino?" Kiba looked at his friend, who nodded in agreement. "Alright, lead the way, Hiro!"

Hinata smiled with gratitude and let out a relieved sigh. She began walking towards her isolated spot, the two men following suit. She was glad they were getting along; maybe she could befriend them while they were all here in the camp. Sticking out as the loner could somehow blow her cover, and she couldn't take any chances.

"Let's just hope _war hero_ _Uzumaki_ doesn't come and order us to go take our baby naps," Kiba suddenly muttered in a mocking tone.

Hinata widened her eyes at the name. "Uzumaki? The war hero you mentioned earlier today? The one who helped Neji in the previous war? _That_ was him?" she couldn't help to ask as they walked, genuinely surprised.

"Yeah, that's him. Some other guys were even whispering about it back in the tent. I heard a few say they were actually there during the ceremony in the capital when he was being pronounced a war hero."

Now that he mentioned it, Hinata remembered she _had_ heard some whispering going on during her encounter with the blond man. She supposed she _might_ have heard the word, "hero", and possibly his name, but she had been too much of a nervous wreck to have even deciphered anything. "I couldn't tell what anyone was saying," she commented quietly in slight embarrassment.

Kiba waved a hand dismissively. "Well, his name is Naruto Uzumaki. I didn't even know he was here until he barged into the dining tent. Did you see that dark-haired man that was talking to him? The one standing by the entrance?" Hinata nodded in response to his question, and he continued, "That was the other war hero, Sasuke Uchiha. They were both with Sir Neji in the previous war."

Hinata hummed in understanding at his words. _So those two men were cousin Neji's comrades in the past war..._ Hinata felt bad that she didn't recognize either of them. They didn't even look familiar anyway, because she's never seen them before. She then briefly wondered if they had attended Neji's funeral. If they had, she certainly hadn't noticed them. She really had been immensely saddened about her cousin's death for months, that she hadn't even payed much attention to her surroundings. A little guilt and regret overtook her.

"I wonder what they're both doing here anyway. Weren't they supposed to leave with the other troops?" Kiba wondered out loud.

It was true. Why hadn't they left with the others? Why were they both here in the rookie camp? Hinata also found it strange, but wasn't too keen on knowing their reasons, so she dropped her questions.

Just as she caught sight of her bundle of a tent, she felt a sudden presence behind her, making her stop abruptly in her tracks. It seemed that her two companions felt it too as they stopped right after her simultaneously. Kiba cursed under his breath.

"May I know where you guys are headed to?" inquired a familiar voice. Kiba cursed again before he and the other two turned around.

Right there, standing a few inches away, was the blond hero, Naruto Uzumaki.

Hinata wanted to shrink into herself by the look he was giving the three of them. He had a small frown on his face. She could guess he suspected what they were going to do.

"Ah, well, you see-" Hinata tried responding, but Kiba's voice cut her off.

"We were just gonna help a friend in need. Are you gonna_ order_ us not to?" he asked threateningly.

Hinata had the sudden urge to place her hand on Kiba's mouth in order to silence him, but held herself back when she noticed the amused expression that overcame the blond's face.

"Yes," Naruto answered calmly, as if Kiba's implied threat hadn't bothered him at all.

Knowing that her spunky peer was about to retort, Hinata faced both her companions to tell them they should go back to their own tents, not wanting to get either of them in trouble. More so, since this man gave off a vibe of high authority, and disobeying him could cause them problems with the not-yet-known commander.

Before she could get a word out, she noticed Kiba looked to be boiling with anger, making it obvious he wanted to start yet another physical fight. From across, Naruto was staring him down, a smirk now on his face that was basically _daring_ Kiba to pounce on him. Hinata suddenly felt terrified - not just because it seemed like Kiba wanted to commit murder, but because the whiskered male looked like he could take Kiba's life in a single moment if he wanted to. Her new comrade looked like a baby standing up to a wild beast.

"Look here, bud-" snapped Kiba, but was abruptly cut off by Shino before he could make a grave mistake. "We're very sorry, Sir Uzumaki. We will both be taking our leave now." He placed his hands firmly on his friend's shoulders and started leading him off quickly, shooting Hinata an apologetic look as he left. Kiba's protests could be heard loud and clear as he was being dragged away.

Hinata stared after her new comrades wistfully, understanding they wouldn't be able to help her now, but felt more relieved they were safe from Naruto Uzumaki. Now she needed to figure out what to do about her unmade tent. It was already getting darker outside...

All her thoughts were quickly dismissed as she realized that the blond hero was still standing there. She gulped and turned her head towards him, but quickly regretted it.

He was staring at her intensely, like he had done back in the dining tent.

Hinata had to fight off a blush. "I, uh..." She mentally urged herself to form coherent words, but had no idea what to say and closed her mouth instead, gulping nervously.

"You know, you look a lot like my dear friend, Neji," Naruto said quietly, as he continued to stare at her.

Hinata felt a bit surprised at his unexpected statement, but trying to lighten up the mood, she replied, "Well, you know us Hyuugas. We all look the same, hahaha..." She really hoped she wasn't making a fool of herself.

Naruto shook his head slightly in disagreement. "No, all you Hyuugas look different, even though y'all have the same eyes." He furrowed his brows a little. "But you...you remind me of him."

Hinata felt slight panic, but decided not to let it get to her. "Eh...whatever you say, but I barely knew him. We are long distance relatives, after all, so I have no idea." She mentally praised herself for giving such a smart answer, not knowing she had it in her to say that, and felt like patting herself on the back.

Naruto slowly shook his head a little, somewhat confused. "Alright, I must be going crazy," he muttered audibly and shrugged. "Anyways, I heard those two guys you were with say that you needed help?" He gave Hinata a huge, friendly grin, looking the total opposite of when he was staring Kiba down earlier.

"Eh? Um, no! No, I can handle it myself. Y-You don't need to bother yourself with my problems." Hinata was surprised that he actually cared about what she needed help with, but didn't want to bother him if he had more important things to do.

"Nah, don't worry about it. I like helping people out. Plus, it wouldn't be fair not to help you, since I sent the people who were going to, back to their tents."

The young Hyuuga smiled at Naruto, grateful and a little nervous that he actually wanted to assist her. "Well, thank you. The thing is..." She then felt embarrassed about the tent thing again. "Y-You see, I don't know how to build a tent...so I kinda need help in that...?" Her voice came out more as a question than an answer. She really did find it embarrassing about telling _him_ of all people, to help her out with something that possibly anyone her age could do by themselves.

"You need help setting up your tent? Well, sure, I'll help you out!" Naruto gave her another grin. "Man, did_ I_ have a hard time when I first had to build one..."

Hinata felt relieved that he didn't even question her inability to do it, and was also surprised at his comment. He didn't seem like the type of person to have a hard time with anything. He seemed confident and strong to her.

Noticing her bundled tent in the distance, she pointed towards it. "It's that one over there."

Naruto glanced at it in confusion. "You're far away from everybody else. Why all the way over there?" He looked at Hinata with an eyebrow raised. She sort of knew he would say that, 'cause who wouldn't wonder about her selected spot?

"I l-like my privacy." She hoped it was a good enough excuse. It was mostly true anyway.

Another grin formed on Naruto's lips again, but this time, it seemed kind of wistful for some reason. "Ha! Neji liked his privacy too when I first met him. He usually preferred being on his own, but then he got closer to everyone. In the end, he hardly had any privacy at all." Naruto chuckled at the memory, making Hinata let out a quiet laugh (trying to sound male). Her beloved cousin Neji - oh, how she missed him.

"I hope you cherish your privacy as much as you can, 'cause you won't be having it later." Naruto turned around and started heading towards Hinata's tent, the young woman following suit.

As they walked, Hinata couldn't help observing him. His back was to her, so he wouldn't notice and get the wrong idea.

Their height difference was great; he was really tall, almost towering over her. He seemed well-built, not bulky or too thin, his shoulders were broad, and his back was straight as he walked in a confident manner. Hinata realized she was alone with this man, who was going to help her build her tent, which was going to take quite a while...

She started getting more nervous than she already was. It was mostly because, having to admit it, she was a little scared of him. After the incident back in the dining tent and the few intense seconds that transpired with Kiba earlier, Hinata thought being alone with Naruto Uzumaki was going to make it in her list of scenarios to stay away from.

Her thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the man in question. "Okay, this is your tent?" He knelt down on one knee and grabbed a section of the bundled tent.

Hinata hadn't even realized they had already arrived to their destination. She guessed she had been too caught up in her thoughts, and nodded in response at his question. He gave her a nod, then looked over at her white stallion, Akamaru, resting comfortably on the grass beside the bundle. The creature looked back at him with what seemed like a bored expression, then started to calmly nibble on some grass.

"Ooh, you got your own horse?" Naruto asked, then quickly added, as if correcting himself, "Duh, you're a Hyuuga." He chuckled and started connecting some of the tent's parts together.

The Hyuuga blushed a little at his comment, but observed with curiosity at how easily he was doing the work, his brows furrowed in concentration. Of course it would be easy for him; he wasn't like her, and she still felt embarrassed in her inability to do the same. She sulked for a few seconds, when a sudden realization came to her mind. It wasn't right for him to be doing all the work, while she just stood there waiting for him to be done.

Becoming determined, she spoke quietly but firmly, "I want to help. It is my tent, after all."

Concentrating to finish setting up the tent, Naruto didn't look up at her as he replied, "Eh? Nah. I can do it myself, Hiro. I've done this several times, and can finish in a matter of minutes."

"Are you su-"

"Positive."

"...Um, okay."

Hinata reluctantly let it go and decided to sit down on the grass, feeling it was better than to continue standing there awkwardly. She sat cross-legged beside Akamaru, and looked up at the sky, noticing the stars had become more visible. It was definitely night now.

She let out a small sigh and observed Naruto at work, trying to instill in her mind each thing he did to set up her tent. _If he won't let me help, I can at least watch how he does it._

After about two minutes, the silence between the two young adults began making Hinata feel uncomfortable, so she decided to rack her brain for something to say.

"It's getting late," was all she could come up with. _That was lame.._

"I can see that." Naruto again didn't look up at her as he replied. It somewhat bothered the Hyuuga heiress that he hadn't given her a glance or even a little nod. He just continued his work as if she wasn't even there.

The next few minutes passed in near silence, and Hinata's mind was going in circles, trying to come up with something else to say; maybe something conversational. Just when she thought of asking Naruto about why a war hero like himself was spending time in a training camp, rather than joining experienced troops in the war, she got interrupted.

"Alright, it's finished." The blond finally turned to face Hinata and gave her a big grin as he placed his hands on his hips.

_What..? Already?_ Hinata hadn't even noticed when he did. She decided she needed to stop letting herself get lost in thought so often, and begin paying better attention to her surroundings.

She uncrossed her legs and stood up, dusting off some grass from her pants. "Thanks for your help...man." That's a manly way of thanking, right?

Naruto nodded his head. "I'm heading back now. Have a good night." He turned around and was about to start jogging away, when suddenly-

"_Grrrrrrr._.._"_

Hinata blushed furiously as her stomach grumbled. The blond clearly heard it as he stopped in his tracks and turned his head to look at her. Hinata was thankful that it was dark outside, so he wouldn't be able to see her flushing face.

"E-Eh, s-sorry about that..." Great, she stuttered two times.

Naruto just kept staring at her, which made her feel very embarrassed. Just as the young woman began to wish she could crawl into a hole, the man in front of her burst out laughing.

Hinata's lavender eyes widened. "W-What?" she uttered. _Is-Is he making fun of me..?_

"Have you eaten at all today?" Naruto asked after he stopped laughing.

"Uh, no, but I'm good. I'm actually more tired than hungry." Hinata did a fake yawn to try showing her point.

The Uzumaki continued to stare at her for a few seconds, squinting his eyes a little in suspicion before he turned around and jogged away.

Hinata stared at his back until he was out of sight. "I guess he bought it..." she whispered to herself. For some reason, it hurt her a little that he had just left like that. She closed her eyes and shook her head. She really did need some rest after a long, tiring day.

"_Grrrrr._" The Hyuuga girl grimaced at the pain in her stomach, and let out a discontent sigh. _You can hold it in until tomorrow, Hinata. You can do it._

Just as she opened the flaps of her now set-up tent, she heard someone call her name. Well, her _male_ name.

Hinata turned her head towards the voice and became surprised. It was Naruto Uzumaki. He was jogging straight to her while he seemed to be holding something in his hands.

"Eh? What happened?" the young Hyuuga wondered aloud as he neared her.

"Nothing. Just that I brought you a bowl of white rice. It was the only thing I could find available at this time. Here." Naruto moved the small bowl towards Hinata. She stared in shock at it being handed to her.

"T-Thanks...man." Hinata was trying not to blush, but even if she did, he wouldn't notice, since it was already dark out.

"Make sure to eat it all. No wasting food." Naruto smiled at the younger "man" before him. "I'll be taking my leave now." He turned around and walked away.

The dark-haired beauty just kept standing there in place, watching the blond's back as he walked away out of her sight. Once he was gone, she looked at the bowl of rice in her hands and smiled warmly.

"He's not as scary as I thought..." she murmured, and a quiet giggle escaped her lips.

She turned to Akamaru beside her, and removed the two bags with her belongings from his reigns. She patted his light-brown mane for good night, then went inside her tent and made her "bed" by laying out two thick blankets on the grass, one over the other, and another one on the top to use for covering herself up. Lastly, she placed a soft pillow on the blankets. Once done, she took out a candle from her personal bag and lit it up. Obviously she wasn't going to eat the rice in the dark. She set her sword down somewhere on the grass, and sat down to begin on her meal.

White rice had never tasted so good. Some water to go along with it would've been nice, but this was good enough. She wasn't complaining, and was just simply glad that she didn't have to be on an empty stomach for the whole day. Hinata continued to eat contently.

Her mind wandered over to the one who had given her this little moment of joy: Naruto Uzumaki. She felt truly grateful to him. He was really kind, and she felt silly in having found him even a little scary.

Once Hinata finished eating every single grain of rice, she put the bowl to the side and started getting ready to sleep, now feeling much better after her small meal. She removed her top first, placing the armor and shirt atop the sword on the grass. It wouldn't be such a good idea to sleep with the bandages pressing firmly on her chest, so she loosened those a little, just enough to ease the slight pain, and put on a loose blouse. Then she took off her leather boots, slid off her pants and put on some more comfortable ones, and untied the lacy band from her hair.

Once that was done, Hinata let out a big yawn. She was very tired indeed, and laid down on the thick blankets, covering herself with the spare one. She reached for the candle she had lit, and blew it out. The only light source in her tent was now gone.

Even though she was actually comfortable settled in her tent, Hinata couldn't sleep. She began to wonder what her family was doing, what they thought after she had left, and couldn't bring herself to stop. Do they know where she is and why? Did Hanabi cry? How were they taking all this?

Questions and worried thoughts continued to plague her mind, and tears started dripping down Hinata's cheeks onto her pillow. She couldn't help but cry silently for the rest of the night, until sleep overtook her near morning.

* * *

"Commander Uzumaki! You're_ late_! An hour late, to be exact! Did you forget about our meeting or what?!" the gray-haired Mizuki shouted as Naruto re-entered the meeting tent.

The man in question gave him a playful smirk. "Nah, I just took my time so that Kakashi and Shikamaru could take a good nap."

"Wow, Naruto, thank you. I really appreciate your concern. I did have a good nap while you were gone." Kakashi gave him a thumbs up as Shikamaru lazily nodded his head in agreement.

Mizuki just stared at the three men in anger and shook his head. "_Ugh!_ All of you are so irresponsible! I'm guessing Sasuke is the only sane one here besides me." He looked over at the young Uchiha, who had returned to the tent way before Naruto did and was sitting calmly on a cushion, his arms crossed and eyes closed. "Right, Sasuke?" Mizuki asked with hope.

No response.

"Um, Sasuke?" asked the councilman again. _Is he ignoring me?_

The dark-haired man opened his eyes and stared at Mizuki with an annoyed expression, making him sweat-drop. Then Sasuke closed his eyes, ignoring him once again.

Mizuki sighed in relief and muttered, "Never mind." Naruto snorted in amusement and the gray-haired man gave him a slight glare.

"Hey, by the way, Naruto," started Kakashi. "Did you present yourself as commander to the rookies?"

The Uzumaki walked over to the small table, which had some lit-up candles on it now, and sat down on his cushion next to Sasuke. "I decided to reveal that information until tomorrow. A lot of them know about my involvement in the previous war, but have _no_ idea I'll be the one to train them." He let out a chuckle. "This is gonna be fun..." His eyes glinted with mischief as a smirk formed on his lips.

Kakashi and Shikamaru both nodded and grinned in understanding at the blond's response. A small smirk became visible on Sasuke's lips.

"What?!"exclaimed Mizuki. "But training starts tomorrow!" he complained. It seemed he wasn't on the same page.

"Exactly," responded Naruto with a knowing smile.

"The men have to know who their commander is before training even begins, so they won't get out of line!"

Naruto frowned at Mizuki's outburst. "That's not a rule. I'm the commander and I decide what I can or cannot do. If I say it's tomorrow, it's _tomorrow._" He glared at the older man, making him shut his mouth.

The Uzumaki seemed satisfied and let out a sigh as he grabbed some scrolls on the table. "Let's finish this before it gets too late."

Everyone else nodded their heads in agreement and continued their meeting.

Tomorrow was certainly going to be a tough day for the rookies. And a surprising one at that.

* * *

**What up, guys! Thanks for reading this story. I hope this was long enough cause I take a while to upload chapters!**

**I hope you guys are liking this story so far :)**


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